Demigods or Mud Bloods?
by ArtyRedB
Summary: When Percy, Annabeth, Leo, and Nico's lives are threatened, they travel to London, and then on to Hogwarts. There, they meet the trio of very unique wizards, and have found yet another dangerous mystery. Mysteries run deep, and riddle Hogwarts' halls once again. it is up to the wizards and Demigods to put their heads together (and their skills) to end this threat
1. Chapter 1-

_The characters and setting do not belong to me. They belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling and Rick Riordan._

 _Hi! This is my first post, and I know that this topic is done a lot, so this might not be new for you. But please review! This is my first chapter and post ever, So I hope you enjoy!_

 _oh, and Another thing, I haven't actually read all the Harry Potter books, only up to book four. So I might make a few mistakes on Harry's side of things, but I'll try my best._

 **Chapter #1 Percy's POV**

Chiron, Annabeth, Leo, Nico and I weaved our way through the crowded London train station. No one paid any attention to us, except for maybe a hint of annoyance at Chiron's wheelchair. People had to avoid bumping into it, which made a sort of breaker against the current of people.

We each were each carrying a trunk/ suitcase thing, filled with a bunch of our important stuff, and demigod necessities. We all had ambrosia and nectar, as well as a few drachma, just in case. Chiron had given us wands, that channeled our powers into stuff more like what the wizards did.

Half of my suitcase was filled with blue cookies that my mom made for the journey. I also had riptide in my pocket, as always. I know that Annabeth had brought Daedalus's laptop, and that Leo's suitcase was actually Festus. Nico...I had no idea what that dude had brought, and I didn't want to know.

" So which train takes us to Hogwarts?" Leo bounced up and down, he seemed to be everywhere at once, filled with nervous energy. Chiron whipped his head to face him.

"Sshh! Don't say the name so loud, it supposed to be hidden, like Camp!" We all had been briefed by Chiron in the Big House a week before. With the aftershock of the war against Gaea, A lot of monsters had escaped Tartarus, and have started another uprising. They almost seemed to follow us wherever we went.

Chiron had told us that he was in contact with Some guy named Dumbledore, and he had a school for people like us in Scotland. He had agreed to take us in for a while, until it was safe to return to America. He also told us that if we saw any monsters, don't hesitate to kill them, because increasingly strange things have happening at the school, and Keeping them at bay would be like a mini quest. As if I haven't had enough of those.

" Right, sorry Chiron." Leo said, quieter now. We crossed a path, fighting against people on their way to work, or some other business. We made our way to a platform, and we stood next to a brick wall. It was quieter here, with less people.

"Is this the platform?" I asked, skeptical, because it was so… well, normal. Normally, there would be some little symbol indicating an important place, or a bunch of monsters hanging around.

"No, Dumbledore gave me instructions, and said that you have to run straight through that wall."

"What?" Annabeth and Nico both asked. Leo just stopped hopping from foot to foot.

"Are you crazy?" She exclaimed, "That's a solid wall! Its molecular density is _way_ too high for us to pass through! Even Seaweed Brain knows that." she looked at me, silently asking me to back her up. I looked at her, and shrugged. If this was for wizards, it kinda made sense

"Nope, just run at it, and you'll be on platform 9 ¾. It's a special type of magic." Chiron replied, totally unfazed. We all exchanged glances. "Just trust me on this. Oh, and before you leave, I will need to give you a few details." Nico snorted. I seconded on that one. We were about to run into a wall, catch a train to a magical school for wizards, and just act like we belong there. Great. I can totally do that.

"-and you just need to lay low, Dumbledore recommended you stick around a boy your age called Harry Potter. You will also need to secretly protect him against anything that might come his way. And that's it! Good luck!" he said cheerfully. Deep down I could tell he was worrying. We all are. We said our goodbyes, and turned our attention to the wall. Annabeth and I glanced at each other.

" On three. One... Two… THREE!" We both ran, and the brick wall turned to a bustling platform, filled with some people in weird robes, and packed with trunks and carts, and owls in cages.

"Whoa." Annabeth breathed. I agreed. Behind us, I heard Leo scream " Mr. McShizzle comin' in hot!" Before Annabeth and I could move out of the way, Leo crashed into us. He got up, and we scrambled out of the way before Nico could barrel into us too. He came hurtling through the wall, stumbled, and fell. Leo snickered, before being shushed by a whistle.

While everyone else seemed to be busy doing something, we sort of just stood there in a group, looking around, with no idea what to do.

A very large man came up to us. He had a big coat, and a great big beard that seemed to eat up his face. I might have almost mistaken him for a monster, or maybe a titan of some sort in disguise-he reminded me of Bob. He loomed over us, and in a gruff voice, said,

"Are you those 'Merican exchange students?" he spoke with an accent I couldn't place. He seemed kind, despite his appearance. I looked at my friends.

" Uh, yes?" I said, unsure of what was going to happen. Leo fidgeted with a button on his shirt. If he didn't have a sufficient amount of bits and pieces to play with, he would make do with what he had, and that wasn't always a good thing.

"Ah yes, Dumbledore told me you were arriving. The name's Hagrid."

"Nice to meet you Hagrid, do you know where we have to go?" Annabeth had to tilt her head up a long way to look at his face. He chuckled.

" That's me job" He smiled and his beard shifted with his face. " Just get on that train, I've told three students to look after you, so they'll save some seats in a carriage for you. Do you have robes? He eyed us. Oops. did we need a uniform? Luckily, Annabeth took charge.

" I've got them." she said casually, as if carrying a bunch of your friend's robes are normal. I saw that Nico and Leo also sagged with a bit of relief. Gods, we're lucky Annabeth is here. Hagrid beckoned for us to follow him, and we made our way to the other end of the station, where we boarded a carriage. We stepped into a carpeted hallway. Hagrid showed us to an empty cabin, and told us that the other kids will be here soon. We said our goodbyes again, and Hagrid shut the door. Leaving us to our silence.

" oookay. " Nico said, breaking the silence.

" I think this will be kind of fun! I mean, It's not everyday we get to study new magic." I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood. _You go Annabeth!_ I silently cheered.

"What do you think this wizard school will be like? I wonder if they do training like we do." Leo said, changing the subject. I considered.

"Hopefully stuff won't be too hard." I said. " I mean, we don't know the first thing about wizarding. Maybe it's all just Bibbity, bobbity, boo!" I said, mimicking the waving of a wand in the air. All my friends chuckled, and as they did, three kids, about our age, entered. One of the boys had red hair, and the other round glasses and a funny looking scar on his forehead.. The third was a frizzy haired girl. She stepped to the front of the trio.

" for your information, we don't just wave wands around, saying random Disney movie words, there's a lot of skill that goes into wizarding."

She looked me in the eye, and the look she gave me reminded me of what Annabeth often did. It was weird. I wondered if she and Annabeth would end up at each other's throats, or best friends.

"Hermione, Hermione Granger." She said, and held out her hand. I shook it, and so did Annabeth. "This is Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley." They waited, almost as if expecting some sort of reaction. When they didn't get it, They just glanced at Harry and shrugged. Leo stood up.

" I'm Leo, That's Percy and Annabeth, and this is Nico." He grandly gestured to Nico, in that silly, joking way of his. We made space for them, and all sat down.

"So what brings you here in the middle of a semester? Most kids arrive at the beginning of the year." Ron, the red haired one leaned forward, and looked at me. I shrugged.

"We're from America, and we came because…" I trailed off, unsure of what story to go with, Chiron had never told us what to say.

"We have come to study magic. Strange stuff has been happening to us, and it is safest here." Annabeth continued on confidently. Her story was part of the truth anyways. We settled down as The wizards began to tell us about the school…

 **Harry's POV**

I didn't know what to think of these Americans. They seemed normal enough, except for the one called Nico, he scared me a bit. After a while of Hermione describing the school and classes, she stopped. And sat up straight.

"Why are you all so fidgety?" She asked. The dark haired one who hadn't said anything before replied with

"We all have ADHD." The others nodded in agreement. As Hermione droned on, Percy interrupted, which I silently thanked him for.

"Anyone hungry?" He asked, opening his trunk. Why was their stuff still with them? Shouldn't they have put it in the storage space? Oh well, I thought, doesn't matter too much.

He pulled out a massive Tupperware container, and when he opened it, it overflowed with blue cookies. He passed them around, and Ron and I took one each, thanking him. Hermione however, didn't.

They were amazing. I sighed, not realising how hungry I was. It had been a long trip from Ron's house to the station, and we had met Hermione here, so she had probably eaten.

" Mmmmm!" Ron said through a mouth of biscuit. "Thith ith amathing!" I agreed with him. They seemed as if they were fresh out of the oven.

"Did you make them?" I asked, curious to know who was behind these amazing cookies. Percy chuckled.

" My mom made them. I'm glad they were put to use though, otherwise I'd be lugging them around all the time!" I found it funny how he said mom instead of mum. Hermione finally gave in and took one when Percy passed them around a second time. She smiled, and nodded, her mouth as full as Ron's. whe n she had finished her mouthful, she spoke up again.

"Why blue?" She asked.

"Just a family joke that kinda turned into a tradition."

After a while, when our hunger had been accounted for, we went silent, and each slipped into our own thoughts. Leo I think his name was- found some gears and springs in his pocket, and started fiddling with them. Who keeps gears in their pockets?

Time passed, and Hermione started reading some textbook. Hagrid, who was on the train, was knocking on doors, telling everyone to get changed into their robes.

" Hi Harry! How was yer break?"

"Good thanks." I replied politely. He smiled at Ron and Hermione, before continuing on. Annabeth went to her trunk, and pulled out their sets of robes.

"Here you go." She handed them out, but stopped when giving Leo one. " Don't burn it" Annabeth whispered.

"You can rest in peace, Mr. Leo McShizzle won't burn anything today." He gave a mocking salute to Annabeth, and she rolled her eyes. While her trunk was open, I noticed some honeycomb looking things tied in a bundle of paper. I wondered what they were. I also got a glimpse of metal, and it reflected in the light. She noticed me looking, and quickly shut it, giving me a warm smile instead.

"Hey man, where do we change?" Percy turned to me, his robe in a bundle in his hands.

"Follow me." I led him, Leo, and Nico to the bathroom, where we stood in line with the other people that needed to change.

When we finally arrived back to our cabin, I found Annabeth and Hermione changed, and they were both scowling at each other. Uh oh, Not good. I wonder what had happened. The group of four looked very different in their wizard robes. They didn't quite fit on them like they did with all of the other students. I wasn't sure what to think, it was such a minor change, but it seemed important. What are they hiding? And who are they really? I was shaken out of my thoughts by Ron.

" A word with you mate." He tugged me to the corridor. I stepped out with him. It was empty.

"What's up?" I asked, curious about what was so important.

" Those Americans are really weird." He said plainly, glancing over my shoulder and into the compartment.

" you came out here to tell me that?" he shrugged. "Of course they're weird." Ron gave me a look.

" I know, but I think that their hiding something, or their not really who they say they are." I nodded in agreement

"I'm pretty sure I saw knife in the blonde one's trunk." Ron looked at me, alarmed. "never mind, we'll sort it out when we've settled back into Hogwarts."

We went back into the compartment, and made small talk with the Americans. Annabeth wouldn't talk to Hermione, and I didn't even want to know what went on when we turned our backs.

As we got closer, The four couldn't keep their faces away from the window.

"This is very new to us. We've never been to England," Percy explained. "Have you ever been to America?" he asked. I shook my head, so did Hermione and Ron. Annabeth gasped, and ran to the window. She looked out at Hogwarts, completely fascinated by it. Percy laughed. Leo looked at us, smiling. He explained

" It's all I want to do when I grow up." She admitted sheepishly. " Your school has some of the finest I've ever seen. I can't wait to see what's inside." The train slowed to a stop, and the Americans picked up their stuff, ready to go.

" follow me!" I said

" Try not to get lost." Hermione added. I led them off the train, from there, we began to make our way to the school. We hung back, so we were at the end of the group. I was surprised, things weren't going too bad, but of course, that luck never stays.

"Oi Potter!" Ugh, I knew that voice. Malfoy. He jogged up to us. His blond slicked back hair catching the afternoon light. " who are these?" He asked, regarding the Americans. " I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

" I'm Leo, Leo Valdez" Leo held out his hand, a smirk on his face, he was mocking Malfoy. That doesn't happen often. Malfoy looked disgusted now.

"Where are you from? And you should be hanging out with someone like me, not these losers." Percy chuckled,

"You sure you aren't getting it wrong? It should be the other way around." He smiled Malfoy scoffed, and I could tell he was searching for a retort, but couldn't find one. I mena, Percy's wasn't that good either, but the fact that he stood up for himself to Malfoy, on his first day said something.

" wait till my father hears about this." He mumbled. The Americans exchanged a glance, they were holding a laughing fit in, but I wasn't sure what could be so funny. Oh well, I sighed.

"Come on, Dumbledore wants to see us." I said. And led them into Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2- Normal Down the Drain

_Hi! Welcome back, Here is chapter 2! I know there hasn't been a lot of action lately, but trust me, there will be plenty in the future chapters! part of that starts in this chapter. I got a review asking if this is a one shot. The answer is no it is not a one shot, I am planning on finishing the story. It may not be super long, but definitely a story. I have another few fanfics up my sleeve so I can't wait to write those out too._

 _p.s I had to almost rewrite this chapter because I got the order of what was happening wrong. This is because I skipped the famous Horgwarts dinner, and instead went to describe the night, and breakfast. I realized that I should probably do dinner, and then I had to re order everything. Ugh, it was annoying. If there is a switch in POVs or anything like that, forgive me, I got very confused for a while :)_

 **Chapter #2 Normal Down the Drain**

 **Annabeth's POV**

I listened to what Hermione said about the school. But I never imagined it would look so amazing, so grand! So when we walked through the main door, My breath got taken away. The huge stone walls, the high ceilings, arching entries, and grandeur of it all was almost too much for me.

There were great big stone pillars, intricately carved, and gargoyles, perched atop many of the roofs. I had been so busy taking it all in, I hadn't realising that my friends had walked ahead. I pushed through the crowd, trying to catch up to them. Many students looked at me, and then took a second look, wondering if I was new, of if they just had never noticed me. I found Percy, at took his hand.

" This place is amazing." I breathed. I felt faint. Percy smiled, and that melted my heart. Coming here meant we couldn't be as open to each other, we couldn't talk about problems when "undercover" but it was still so nice to be by his side. We followed Harry, Ron and Hermione through the humongous halls of Hogwarts.

Eventually, we reached an office, and Harry knocked quietly. The door swung open, and we entered. The trio of wizards stayed outside though. An old man with a really long beard, (I assumed he was Dumbledore) sat behind a great oak desk. Hagrid stood next to him. Dumbledore smiled,

"Ah, welcome!" He said politely. "I trust you had a nice trip?"

I nodded, so did my friends. I mean, I missed America too, but this was the second best thing.

" Now I know this is strange for you, so I think it is best if you keep it low key." I held in a snort. As if we weren't told that already. " I have got your schedules here, and we thought since you are the only transfers, we would sort you into houses here."

What did they mean by 'sort'? Dumbledore smiled again. "Sorting, is a ceremony we do to put kids into a house that suits them. There are four Houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. The Sorting Hat here will decide which house to put you into.." Dumbledore reached under his desk, and pulled out a yellowed box. In side it was a brown witch's hat, that was slouched and grubby. I doubted that there could be any magic in that. "Who wants to go first?" Dumbledore asked us. Nico stepped forward.

"I'll go." he said. Dumbledore gently lowered the hat on Nico's head. Suddenly, something came to life in it. It looked like a grumpy face now. It's 'eyebrows' furrowed.

" Ah," It croaked. " Son of Hades eh? Well, you fit into each of the houses quite well don't you? You're brave, you've faced a lot, more than the chosen one. But Slytherin is also an option. Hmmm, I think Gryffindor will suit you well." Nico shrugged, and Dumbledore lifted the hat off his head.

"Next up." He said. I decided to get it over with, so I walked forward. Dumbledore placed the hat on my head, and it felt unusually heavy.

"Oh, here is a very wise one eh? Well instantly Hufflepuff and Slytherin are eliminated. The only question is; Ravenclaw of Gryffindor? I see wisdom and cunning in your eyes, but I feel bravery in you heart. Often, we don't listen to the heart. I will put you in Gryffindor." I suppose I agreed, but I didn't have a lot of experience, so I will just have to roll with it.

Leo stepped up next, I wondered why Percy was holding back. It couldn't have been fear, I guess It didn't matter. Again, Dumbledore put the hat on his head. "Here we are, I suppose either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor would do for you, but I think you have too much guts to be a Hufflepuff. Gryffindor!" While the hat spoke, Leo was trying to examine the hat for gears or mechanical components. When he didn't find any, he just looked annoyed.

Percy now stepped up, and Dumbledore lowered the hat on his head. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled within a split second of making contact with Percy's head. Percy jumped a bit at the sudden shout. Okay then, point taken. Percy joined us, and Dumbledore handed us our schedules, as we were about to leave, he held up a hand, signalling for us to pause.

" Your animals will be in your rooms, and you have a review of the rules at dinner." he winked, before shutting the door.

" What houses are you all in?" Ron asked eagerly.

" Gryffindor." We answered simultaneously.

" All right! You'll be with us then!" Harry replied happily. I smiled, maybe this trip would be alright.

 **No one's POV**

Nico was about to follow the rest of the group, but he saw Hagrid leave Dumbledore's office, and had to ask him something. He tapped his shoulder.

"Yes lad?" He turned around, smiling a little bit.

"Are you a Laistrygonian?" Nico asked, not bothered to beat around the bush. Hagrid only winked, nodded slightly, and then continued on his way.

 **Leo's POV**

We followed Harry, Ron and Hermione through another series of corridors, until we came to the Gryffindor entrance. But I didn't see any entrances. Instead, there was a painting of a lady.

" Password dearie." I jumped. It spoke. a painting spoke. and it moved! Percy jumped as well. " You must be new! Welcome to The Gryffindor common room." As the lady spoke, A section of the stone wall the the painting was on swung open.

We entered a cosy but spacious room, with sofas and deep armchairs. on the left side, a fire was roaring in it's fireplace. We stepped in, and Ron immediately plopped into an armchair. Me and my friends made to sit down on the sofa but couldn't. There were strange shapes under a large cloth.

" These must be for you." Ron pointed out. I lifted the sheet, and under it were four animals in a cage. Each cage had one of our names on top. A beautiful silvery grey owl was in a birdcage with my Annabeth's name on it. _Typical._ I thought. Under mine there was a very orange tabby cat. Under Percy's there was a… Fish? It swam around in a tank. He picked it up. The fish swam to face him, blew a bubble, and then continued to swim, it's gold scales shimmered in the light. Okay then, soulmates for life I guess. These must have been the animals that Dumbledore was talking about. I heard Nico choke, He lifted up a fuzzy white kitten. It looked like a little jelly bean.

"Awwww." was all I could say before bursting out in laughter. Percy and Annabeth agreed, cooing at the tiny fluff-ball. Hermione approached.

"All wizards and witches get an animal, and normally they are only owls, toads, and cats. It seems you have special ones." She shrugged.

" Don't worry, mine's a rat." Ron sympathised. Percy was already in love with his fish, and Annabeth was just staring at her owl. Nico's little kitten was nestled in his arms. He looked at me with a look of complete confusion. I couldn't help but laugh again. It was just too funny to be true. "Come on, let's go to Dinner." We were about to go down the stairs, when I stopped.

" What about our pets?" I asked The wizards. Harry smiled. "They'll be fine, they will probably hang out in the dorm room, or maybe around the common room. Trust me, they will be fine."

"What about Mine?" Percy piped in. "She's just a fishie."

" Come on, we'll be late." Ron ushered us out into the hallway. He seemed eager to eat. " You guys are going to love dinner." Ron smirked a bit. I hoped that this was going to be a good thing. As we were about to shut the door behind us, Nico slipped through.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly. Ron sighed, but smiled a bit at the same time.

" I remember our first year. We were late on the first day, weren't we Harry?" Harry grinned,

"Yes, we sure were." I followed Harry, Ron and Hermione, falling into step beside Annabeth and Percy. She was whispering about some big debate topic she and Hermione had disagreed about. She had promised Hermione that they would settle it later.

"Well it seems like you two are getting along swell. " I mimicked an English accent Nico tugged on my arm. He jerked his head in the direction of a dark corridor.

" Dude" He whispered. I looked at the wizards. They were deep in conversation, about us no doubt. He pulled me, Annabeth, and Percy towards the corridor. We ducked into it, and then immediately regretted it. It was a dead end, and in the high corner, a shadow, loomed in a high corner. It was darker than anything else I've ever seen before. Darker than when I shut my eyes. The thing oozed and dripped, spread along the arch of the ceiling, and drooping down. From somewhere in it, a mouth opened, revealing razor sharp ebony teeth, and a low hissing sound emanated off of it. I yelped. Summoning a little flame to my hand. Percy was about to uncap Riptide, but Annabeth motioned for him not to. I got rid of my flameball. She waved her hand, and then put her fingers to her lips. _Be quiet, and follow me._ She tiptoed out of the corridor, and set off at a fast pace to catch up with the three wizards.

"That was a Ceuthonymus. They are extremely dangerous. They can't see, but their hearing and sense of smell is amazing, and they can take on many shapes. We have to tell Dumbledore ASAP." Annabeth actually looked a bit pale, as she told us. Which was a first. Hermione turned around.

"What do you need to tell Dumbledore?" She asked. "He's normally very busy, so he might not have time. Maybe you could catch him at the end of dinner." She turned back to her conversation. I scowled, I really didn't like her. She thought she knew everything there was to know, which made her very naive In my opinion. One of the first things I learned at camp In the Athena cabin was to not assume that you know everything. People will always use that to their advantage.

Nico looked at us. "Annabeth this is serious, what is that doing here?" Nico asked me, sounding very alarmed. Which was also a first. I followed their conversation, with no idea what was going on. Annabeth ran her hands through her hair.

" I don't know. They're supposed to stick with the ancient areas, like Greece and Rome. They shouldn't be so far North."

" Whoa guys." I interrupted, holding up my hands" What is happening? Please explain… In English." I slowed my walk a bit, so we were out of earshot from Harry and his friends.

" Okay. So the Ceuthonymus are a race of monsters, descended from the Primordials, technically chaos itself. The first one was cast aside, ignored for thousands of years. They show up in places of power, and breed." Annabeth told us, rubbing her temples. I could tell her mind was racing at the speed of a bullet train.

" They spread and take over, corrupting the power source." Nico continued. He just got puzzled looks from Percy and I. He sighed,"They are bad, and we need to stop them." Percy nodded, and so did I. That made more sense.

"Seaweed brain." Annabeth muttered. Percy didn't smile this time. We were all too worried. " let's just sort this out after we eat." Annabeth hurried to catch up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We continued walking until we came to a set of huge oak doors. I heard Annabeth gasp a bit at the amazing architecture. Harry pushed hard on the doors, and they opened.

" Whoa." Percy said, his jaw dropping.

 **Percy's POV**

The ornate oak doors opened to a massive hall, filled with four long tables, and a very high roof. I actually couldn't tell if it was a roof or not, because it looked too much like sky, clouds moving and all. The long tables were filling up with students, andon the far end, the teachers sat at a table, with Dumbledore at the highest seat. It was amazing. Annabeth was speechless as well.

" Come, let's eat." Ron directed us to the Gryffindor table, and we took a seat. Annabeth, Me and Nico were on one side, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Nico were on the other side.

" What happens now?" I asked.

" Dumbledore will give a little talk, and then we eat!" Hermione said, clapping her hands together. We had a few more minutes of talking while the last students dribbled in. Then, Dumbledore stood up, clinking his glass with a little spoon. I wondered whether that spoon was made for clinking, or for actually eating with.

" Students, teachers, welcome to the beginning of the second semester. I hope you all had a wonderful break, and have arrived here safely." Dumbledore paused, and then continued, " In this semester, we have two new teachers, Mr. Higgs, and Ms. McEvoy. Let's give them a warm welcome." He clapped, but he just tapped two fingers on the back of his hand. At least the students clapped properly. Two teachers stood up, bowed slightly, and then sat down again.

After that, my ADHD prevented me from focusing on the rest of his speech. I didn't understand what he was saying anyway. He mentioned something about Quittich, whatever that was, and also about some off bound dark forest. I hoped that we wouldn't have to go into the off bounds Dark Forest, but we probably would, considering us demigods can't ever stay out of trouble.

I sighed. This trip could go two ways. The first would be a lovely trip where we learn magic and make friends. The second where we get ourselves and others into danger, and damage school property. I hoped that it would be the first one. snapping out of my thoughts, I zoned back into the very end of Dumbledore's speech.

"-On that final note, I wish you a wonderful term 3, and all the best in your studies." Everyone clapped. Dumbledore clapped his hands (properly this time) once, and a stunning feast appeared on our table.

" Whoa." Was all I could say. "Is this for real?" I asked. Ron nodded. I kind of expected it to be a hologram or some sort of wizard mist.

" What are you waiting for? Dig in!" Ron exclaimed, heaping food onto his plate. Hermione and Harry also began eating. Me, Leo, and Nico ate with a ravenous gusto, like we were a pack of starved wolves. Everything I could ever ask for was on the table. None of us talked while eating, we were too focused on our food.

When things finally slowed down, and people were finishing, Dessert appeared.

" Ugh. I don't think I can eat another bite." Annabeth groaned. However, Leo perked up when dessert appeared.

" Guys, stuff it in your pockets." Leo was taking fistfuls of chocolate and shoving them in his robes." He grinned, parts of his robes bulging with sweets. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

" You are an animal." She told Leo.

"Guys, we should probably talk to Dumbledore now." Nico said, serious again.

" Right. Do we just go up there?" I asked. I was kind of scared of the teachers. Let's face it, I wasn't exactly a teacher's pet. Annabeth nodded.

" Might as well." She said. She stood up, and so did I.

" Where are you going?" Ron asked, a faceful of pie.

" We need to talk to Dumbledore urgently." Annabeth told him. Ron just shrugged.

"Okay then, but hurry, he leaves early." Ron said. We rushed to the front, but it was hard with all the chairs. At the front, we ran up to the top, but Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen.

" Holy Hera, he's gone." Nico murmured.

" What are we gonna do?" Leo asked, we all looked to Annabeth. She looked at us, sighed, and then considered for a bit.

" We'll have to ask to talk to him tomorrow." Annabeth frowned.

"Oh Gods, this is only our first day." I groaned. Our "incognito visit" here had already gone down the drain.

 _So, what did you think? I know that parts of it might have been confusing, so If it is really confusing, I'l rewrite it, but I'd rather not have to._

 _Just letting you know, The POVs will mostly be on the PJO side, to make it easier for me to keep it in character._

 _A Ceuthonymus ( pronounced Koo-thon-eh-mus) is actually a mythological monster, I googled it. but it was a spirit of the underworld. I have used that name but for a slightly different version of what it was in Mythology. The new teachers are my OC's because I need them in the plot twist heheheh._


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi! Here is chapter three! I have been really busy this week with upcoming tests, and I was in a bit of a hurry to get this one done. so this one might be a little shorter. After next week, I will be free of tests, and hopefully get a few more chapters in that time. I have gotten a review, and the person was a bit confused as to why the demigods are even in Hogwarts. I understand, but this is just a story, so It's no big deal. But to clear things up, I've explained a bit more about the reason why the demigods are here in this chapter._

 _Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV**

After dinner, we filed out the huge entrance. I was disappointed that Dumbledore had left early. Even stranger though, was the fact that I was also a quite scared.

Ceuthonymus' are really dangerous. The one we encountered was a small one, but they grow, and fast. Leo, Percy, and Nico were silent too, no doubt worrying about the Ceuthonymus as well. I had actually learned about these at camp one summer, where they had a monsters class. Unfortunately, they never specified what do do when encountering one.

We continued the walk back to the Gryffindor dorm. I had begun to recognise a few of the hallways, but I knew it would take ages to memorise them all. I would normally be in heaven right now, but my mind was busy elsewhere. We arrived at the common room entrance again. Harry gave the password, and we all hurried inside. Hermione gave us a look when we pushed inside. I waved it off. When the stone wall swung shut again, we almost sighed with relief.

" Okay, Nico, Leo, Percy follow me to your bunks. Annabeth, You follow Hermione." the boys left, and Hermione wordlessly led me into the girl's dorm section. There were rows of bunks, like at camp. She pointed at the empty one. It didn't have another bunk on top, and was more of a cot than a bed. It was crammed next to a window. I put the owl on the bed, and looked out. The sun was low, silhouetting the turrets, spires, and rooftops against the purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows. Above, stars were beginning to show, sparkling to life in the sky. I also saw the dark forest that was 'off bounds'. It looked like a black hole from here, and I thought I saw two red eyes. I hoped it was my mind playing tricks.

I knew Hermione was trying to shove me aside, and that was worth it if I got this beautiful view. I unpacked, stashing my trunk under the bed. I plopped down to face my owl. I needed to give her a name, and I sat there thinking for a while before it clicked.

" Your name is Fortuna." I told her quietly. A part of me knew it was a she. Fortuna clicked her beak in response. I can't explain it, but a bond of power resonated between us. I guess it was the symbolic power, Athena's symbol, and me, a daughter of Athena. All the other girls chatted, clearly not interested in me right now. That was fine though, I didn't care. I never had before anyway. One by one, they dropped off to sleep. I stayed up, getting my trunk out from under the bed. I slipped my dagger into a more accessible spot, tucked under the mattress. I decided to take Fortuna out of her cage, it seemed cruel to keep her so confined. She fluttered over my head, and perched on the head of the bed, watching me. I curled up inside the old sheets, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It felt strangely nice having her here, like having a small piece of my mom watching over me.

 **Nico's POV**

I wondered if I should tell Percy and Leo about Hagrid, but decided against it. There was no point, and they'll find out sooner or later. Harry pointed out our bunks. I was on my own. That was nice, I always hated sharing bunk beds anyway. Leo was above Percy, and he jumped on it so much, Percy was rocking back and forth on the lower bunk. Some of the other boys laughed. Yep, Leo was going to do just fine here.

" Dude, what are you going to name your pet? Mine's named Amphitrite." Percy came up to me and plopped down on my bed. He held his fish's tank in his hands. I considered pushing him off, but decided not to.

"First of all, how do you know it's a girl?" I asked skeptically. Percy shrugged.

"Eh, just do." I gave him a look.

"Second, Amphitrite's not going to like it." I pointed out bluntly. I wondered If he purposely named it after the cranky sea goddess.

"Dude-" He looked around, to check if anyone was listening.

"Don't worry, no one's listening. " I told him. I wasn't that stupid.

"Well, it's too late, she's already named, no takes backsies." Percy grinned. " You still haven't told me what you are going to name you pet." He said. I considered, not actually sure what to say. But then it hit me.

"Marshmallow." I told him. Percy looked at me blankly for a moment, before bursting into howling laughter. He laughed so hard he fell on the floor, tears streaming from his eyes. I shrugged. "What?It suits him." He didn't stop laughing.

Leo's heat popped over the side of the bunk.

" what's up?" He asked looking at Percy, who was still rolling around on the ground.

" Nico's..naming his kitten... Marshmallow." Percy told him through fits if laughter. Leo joined Percy on the floor, howling as well. I sighed, I realised now that I would never hear the end of it. The other boys looked at us, strangely, but shrugged it off. We unpacked, and settled in. It took a while, but eventually we were all introduced. It started to get dark.

The other boys nodded off, leaving Harry, Me, and Leo. Percy fell asleep first, and was now snoring. Marshmallow, was now awake, mewling. I stroked I then zoned back into Harry and Leo's conversation. They were talking about wands.

" Mine's got a Phoenix feather core. Yours?" Harry asked Leo.

" Same." Leo shrugged, pulling out his wand. Harry then turned to me. "What is your's made of Nico?"

" Pine. but I don't know what it's core is. " I got it out, and showed Harry. He looked at the engravings, which were in black. I knew what the core was, it was bone. I just didn't feel like telling him.

" That's really nice." He said, handing it back to me. He yawned, but I could tell it was fake. "Well, I need to sleep. you should probably get some sleep too. We start early, and you'll need to get your books sorted." He left, and climbed into bed. So did Leo and I. I didn't stay up long after that. I fell asleep with Marshmallow purring in my arms. Surprisingly, The nightmares didn't come tonight, maybe it was Marshmallow, or maybe some dream spells in the dorm.

 **Leo's POV**

It was early morning, and noises suddenly exploded into the room. All the boys got up, and began getting dressed, chattering about their classes, exchanging strange wizard cards as if they were baseball cards. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes. When I looked around, everything was bleary. Percy was still asleep, but Nico was up. Outside, the sky was grey and drizzly, but some sun shone through a gap in the clouds. _Thanks, Apollo._ I thought to myself. I stood up and rocked the bunk bed. Percy was shaken awake. I clambered down, and checked my cubby, where Festus sat tucked in suitcase form. I was relieved that no one suspected a thing. Not even Chiron. He said to bring the things that you needed, so I brought Festus, and nothing else, best plan ever!

"Wh-wha?" He murmured, rubbing his eyes.

"Get up!" I yelled in his ear. We all got sorted, and we were ready to go, but apparently we were missing one thing.

" Don't we need books?" Percy asked. I looked at and Nico. they just spread their hands, they didn't have any idea what they needed. A boy, Neville I think his name was- came up to us, a big cardboard box in his hands.

"These are for you I think." he pointed at the cardboard box filled with supplies. We looked inside. It had books, cauldrons,and quills in it.

"Those must be your books." Harry pointed out. I nodded. Percy checked his schedule, and pulled out all his books. I did the same. I dumped the ones I didn't need in my allocated locker. Nico stacked his neatly, and Percy chucked them into the locker like I did.

"Okay… Where is this class?" I asked, examining my schedule, and showing it to Harry. One of the boys (I forgot his name) smirked, and said

" We got to have breakfast first." He sauntered out with a few of his mates. I made a note to tease him a little bit later. I found that I was pretty good at annoying people. I tried to use this skill of mine as much as possible.

"Don't worry about him. Let's just go eat, I'm starving." Harry said. He went to Ron's bunk, and shook him awake. " Get up, you have ten minutes to get to breakfast." Harry told Ron. Ron only groaned, and swung himself out of bed. Percy, Nico and I went down to the common room, and talked, waiting for the other to come down.

"Do you think we'll be able to talk to Dumbledore?" Percy asked us. " I mean, It's not as easy as going straight to Chiron. Plus we're on our own unless we can talk to Dumbledore. I don't know if Harry Ron, and Hermione are going to help." Percy said.

" Yeah!" I agreed." Whose idea was it to come here in the first place?" I had actually forgot. All I knew was that it was safer to disappear for a while.

"It was Chiron's. He thought it was best to go completely off grid. You do realise there _are_ a lot of monsters and gods that want to kill us. Now that everything is over, we aren't the some of the Olympians' favourites. We don't have any excuse for not being killed." Nico pointed out bluntly. He leaned in. " Guys, there is something important I have to tell you. I think I might know how the Ceuthonymus got here." Nico's voice reduced to a and I leaned in, and Nico continued. " I opened my suitcase this morning, and it was covered in black slime. I am no expert on Ceuthonymus' but I think It was in my suitcase."

" Almost like in a book…" Percy trailed off. " That sounds unlikely, but then again, my entire life so far is based off of 'unlikely'". He wiggled his fingers, quoting the word unlikely.

Nico went to continue, but Hermione and Annabeth stormed down the stairs. They were glaring at each other, their arms crossed. Right now, they reminded me of toddlers, arguing about something not important. If I told them that, they would beat me into the ground. Annabeth takes her debates _very_ seriously. Annabeth plopped down on the sofa next to Percy, And Hermione stormed out the door. She started furiously describing to Percy about some argument/debate they had.

" Can you believe she argued against that? She'd never be an Athena kid." Annabeth was talking at rapid fire to Percy, who seemed unaffected by her anger. Percy put a hand on his chest, pretending to be shocked. I think none of us were surprised that Annabeth and Hermione have started a feud. " No I absolutely cannot." He smiled, and Annabeth pushed him a little bit.

" Wow. Just wow." Annabeth rolled her eyes, smiling at the same time. She dropped the subject after that. We followed the same halls as yesterday to the dining room. We entered through the same oak doors. It looked completely different in the morning light. The room was a lot lighter than the dim glow of the 'sky' and candles from the night before, but it only brought to light the amazing architecture, yep, even _I_ was stunned by it all. The fake sky showed the same cloudy day, but it looked like a moving mosaic picture. This place could have been Olympus or something.

Breakfast was eaten with less bravado than dinner last night, but it was still delicious. I was halfway through my stack of customized 'Leo's pancake and bacon supreme', when Annabeth nudged me. She tilted her head to where Dumbledore sat, eating his english breakfast. Percy and Nico looked up from their plates, getting the message as well. We hurried to the front, weaving through the seats and tables. When we got there, we approached Dumbledore.

" Excuse me sir–" Dumbledore looked up.

" yes?" he looked kind, but I was still kinda scared of him. Annabeth took a deep breath.

"We have got some _very_ important news regarding the fact that Hogwarts is in danger." She said in her special, _This-is-important-and-you-need-to-listen_ voice, that must have been a specialty of the Athena cabin. Dumbledore nodded, and finished chewing.

" Yes, come to my office before lunch, and we can discuss matters. " Annabeth was about to argue, maybe saying it was too urgent, but shut her mouth. Before lunch seemed pretty good to me.

" Thank you sir." Annabeth said, before turning, and heading back to our seats. We sat down. Harry looked at us strangely, wondering what was so urgent that we needed to tell Dumbledore.

" You guys all good?" Harry asked, putting a forkful of sausage in his mouth. We nodded.

" Nothing to worry about." Percy assured him. Harry shrugged, and went back to eating. We continued to eat in silence, all of us not really sure about how to make small conversation. _Well isn't this awkward?_ I thought to myself.

" What classes do you have? For your sake, I hope you're with us." Ron asked, leaning over his plate, cleaned of food.I agreed, I might even need breadcrumbs to get around this place. Percy shrugged, and from his pocket, got out his schedule. So did Nico, Annabeth, and I. The wizard examined it, looking at their own as well.

" Annabeth, Nico, you guys are with me and Ron." Hermione said. " Percy and Leo, you are with Harry." She said, leaning back in her chair. She was looking solely on Annabeth. Annabeth glared straight back. I was all I could do to refrain from laughing. Kids got up from their seats, and began to leave. I didn't know what signified the end of breakfast, but I just assumed the kids knew all the times. We got up, and followed the wizard trio to the doors.

" Percy, Leo, follow me. We're learning about broomsticks again today, so you don't need to bring anything just yet." Harry told us. Percy and I almost started laughing. Broomsticks, typical. We said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways. I Was curious to see how classes went. For everyone's sake, I hoped that we wouldn't wind up in trouble, like demigods tended to do.

* * *

 _Yes, I know his chapter is short, so sorry about that. :) But if all goes well, I'll post Sunday next week!_

 _Bye!_


	4. Chapter 4

_hello everyone! Here is chapter four. I can't guarantee a post for the next two weeks because I'm going away. Sorry to keep you waiting._

 _not much else to say, so enjoy, and feedback is much appreciated!_

 **Chapter 4**

 **Nico's POV**

I followed Ron and Hermione through the halls of Hogwarts, Annabeth silent next to me. Ron stopped at a door, and took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Ron must really not like this class. We entered a dim and dusty room. Streams of light shone through a small window, Illuminating dust particles floating through the air. There were rows of desks, some with students sitting in them. Ron showed us to an empty table, and we sat down.

"Get your stuff ready, I think we are doing a practical lesson today." Ron told us, his voice hushed. He took out his small cauldron, wand, parchment, and a quill. Annabeth and I did the same. We had quickly gone back to our dorms to get our materials, and when Ron listed all the things we needed to bring, I was getting worried.

"Gods, I have no idea what to expect in this class." Annabeth gave me a half smile. I didn't either. We were given cauldrons and wands, and they're actually teaching this stuff to us with a straight face? Then again, we went to a summer camp for kids with a greek god for a parent, so I shouldn't be too surprised. Something tells me that Hecate would love this place. When just about everyone was seated, a man burst through the doors, and walked to the front. He spun around In a flourish. The man had chin length black greasy hair, and a dark green and black robe.

"Professor Snape." Hermione whispered to us. " He's really hard core." I nodded, he definitely seemed hard core. He also reminded me a tiny bit of my father, Hades. Only because of the pale skin and slightly sunken eyes.

"Hello class, and welcome back to a new term. This term, we will be focusing more on practical lessons, rather than the theory we did last term. I hope you remember your formulas and notes, because we will need them." He seemed to be making very direct eye contact with the whole class, and it unnerved me a bit. He looked at me and Annabeth, and his eyes narrowed.

"You must be the new students. Welcome to Hogwarts. I will be teaching you potions this year, and I expect you to keep up. You may partner up with someone, since you won't have notes from last term. They will help you around." He clapped his hands, and then addressed the whole class again. "Ok class, get out your cauldrons. Today we will be exploring the ways special herbs will affect basic potions, and why these variations happen." The class got out their cauldrons, their wands at the ready. From then on, we were very busy mixing what were apparently basic potions, with strange herbs that I had never seen before.

Towards the end of the lesson, Annabeth and I put in some purple leaves into our potion, and the liquid grew into a foamy mess that spread across the desk. Everyone went quiet. Professor Snape glared at us, and I knew we were in for it.

" What herbs did you put into that potion?" He asked. Annabeth stuttered a bit.

" W- We put in Perilla into the base potion that you had us make."

"Ah" Snape said, rubbing his chin as if there where a beard there. I just couldn't read that dude, and I don't think I will ever be able to. I wasn't sure if he was going to blast us into oblivion, or give us a pat on the back "Class, Annabeth and Nico here have put Perilla into a simple base potion. Who can tell me why Perilla does this?" He looked around the room, as if daring one os us to speak. Before anyone else could speak, Hermione's hand shot up.

"Yes Hermione?" Professor Snape pointed at Hermione.

"Perilla's toxins and natural oils react very easily to most potions. Their skin and cells quickly dissolve, allowing those toxins to blend." She told him. I was kind of surprised, she seemed like she was preparing to say this. Next to me, Annabeth was seething. She was not used to being outsmarted, and Hermione didn't seem to be either. The class continued like this, adding different herbs and plants into the basic potion. Annabeth and I were very careful not to blow things up. Annabeth did however, ask lots of questions, and take notes.

"I figure this will be very useful, maybe even back at camp." I agreed, we had some strange plants back at camp, and maybe we could use them to our advantage.

 **Percy's POV**

Harry had led us through one large hall, and outside the school. I had never actually seen the full grounds, and never expected it to be this large. Growing up in New York City, you don't see a lot of schools with playgrounds. Let alone humongous stretches of grass and fields. The sky was cloudy and grey, threatening to give way to away, Hogwarts was bordered in dark forest. We came to a gathering of kids. I assumed we'd be doing sport. The least Hogwarts could have is some normal sports activities, maybe even dodgeball or some kind of Soccer. That was before I saw the pile of broomsticks the kids were crowding around. Leo tried to push to the front to have a look, earning glares from some kids. A teacher strode up to us, and the huddle parted, letting her to the front.

" Class, today we will be flying again. You know the drill, but since I see we have new students, while you do your warm ups, I will show them the basics. Get your Broomsticks, and line up. When I say go, you may start." Everyone hurried to the pile, arguing over the best broomsticks. When the space was clear, the teacher handed us a broomstick each. Leo and I glanced at each other. He was definitely doubtful, and so was I.

"Hello, and welcome to my sports class. I am Madame Hooch, your flying instructor for the year." She smiled at us, before continuing, "Here at Hogwarts, we do flying lessons. Everyone else has learned how, so I will show you the basics." She showed us how to grip the brooms properly, and so on. " Now, I want you to hold out your hand to the broom, and say up." She demonstrated, and the broom floated into the air, hovering before her. I jumped.

"Whoa." Leo breathed.

"Now you try." Madame hooch told us. I shrugged, what could go wrong?

"Up!" I told the broom firmly. As it turns out, a lot can go wrong, the broom shot up, and hit me square between the eyes. I grabbed hold of it, my knuckles going white. Leo laughed

"You try!" I yelled at him. The teacher only looked at us, slightly amused in our struggle.

"UP!" He shouted, louder than necessary. The broom shook a bit but did nothing.

"UP!" He shouted again. This time, it shot into his hand, knocking Leo back a bit.

"Good! Now, mount it like I am doing, and kick off. I want you to hover in the air. Don't fly anywhere." She told us talking slower, as if talking to little kids. We copied her movements, and when I was sitting on it, I kicked off. It felt really strange, like jumping up, but not going back down. It felt like jumping on the moon, the steps you take being exaggerated. Suddenly I was hovering there. When my body processed what was happening, it got scared, and so did I wobbled, and flipped upside down. Leo shot up into the sky.

" Zeus is gonna kill meeeee!" I yelled. Leo was wobbling next to me shaking the broom, trying to get it to go back down. Thunder rumbled in the sky. Leo's broom zipped back down, and stopped an inch above the ground. Leo face planted into the ground. I laughed, but my broom somehow took that as an order, and rose a few yards further. I began to get worried too. This wasn't exactly my domain. As if to emphasize that point, the clouds darkened, and more thunder rumbled.

"Looks like thunder. Unfortunately, we can't continue in these weather conditions, it's a safety hazard. Come down, and I'll call the class in." Madame Hooch waved her hand, and the rest of the class zoomed in and landed with their brooms. They looked so fast and experienced. I tried to direct the broom to the ground. It shuddered, before lurching down, halting to a stop. I climbed off of it, and handed it to Madame Hooch, eager to get rid of it. We joined the class, and we sank to the back of the crowd. Madame Hooch began to talk about something called Quidditch. I zoned out, and my mind wandered back to my family. My mom, Paul, Tyson, and Poseidon. I especially wondered how the rebuild in Poseidon's underwater kingdom was going. Last time I saw him, he looked pretty stressed. Next to me, Leo was fiddling with a piece of wire. Where he got it from, I don't know.

"Percy! Were you listening?" Hooch looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I-uh…"

"I take it you weren't. Well, who wants to recap for our new friend here?" No one's hand went up. But after a few awkward moments, one kid raised his hand.

"We were talking about the Quidditch games coming up." he told Leo and I. Madame Hooch nodded.

"Uh, what's Quidditch?" Leo asked stupidly. I kicked him.

"Dude, bad question." I told him. Leo just looked at me blankly and shrugged. My amazing instincts told me that was definitely a bad question. Madame Hooch frowned.

"Quidditch, is a sport we play on the broom sticks. You'll get the chance to see a practice game next week, in preparation for the House games." Whatever chance of this teacher liking me just disappeared. "Class, you will get an early mark, but don't dawdle on the way to your next class. Percy, Leo, stay here for a moment if you will." She glared at us, and Leo gulped. When the group left, she beckoned us forward.

"Now, I know you are new, but that is no excuse to not pay attention. I want you to start of nicely at Hogwarts, and not paying attention will definitely not allow that. Do you have any reason why you weren't paying attention?" Madame Hooch definitely scared me.

"Well, we both have ADHD, Leo has it especially bad." I told her, Leo nodded his head in agreement. Her glare softened into a frustrated look. I got that a lot, sometimes from Annabeth too.

" Fine, I understand, just try your best to pay attention. This term we will mostly be doing brooms, so you won't have to listen to me drone on." She waved her hand in dismissal. We mumbled our thanks and hurried off to find Harry.

 **Annabeth's POV**

Gods, Hermione annoyed me. All throughout the potion lesson, it was just answer after answer. She is smart, don't get me wrong, and I respect that. But I didn't like how she seems to hold herself a bit higher than others because of that. At least at Camp, Athena's kids tried to stay humble with their intelligence and wisdom. Either that, or they learn from their mistakes. Arachne served as one of those examples.

For Nico and me however, the lesson was a bit of a failure. I thought Professor Snape seemed pretty cool, he knew a lot in this area. I had never really considered herbs and potions as a proper topic before. It wasn't really my thing. I remembered there was a kid in my cabin who did know a lot about this sort of stuff, and their desk was covered in plants, formulas, recipes, and vials.

Towards the end of the lesson, Snape made us write down. That was when Nico and I struggled. Being Dyslexic had always frustrated me. At camp, I normally read in ancient greek, so I was a little bit rusty. Beside me, Nico gritted his teeth.

"Gods, this is hard." He mumbled. I nodded. While everybody else were finishing up their notes, Nico and I had barely even gotten past the first five dot points.

"No one leaves until they have finished." He announced. Oh great, this is going to be fantastic. I thought to myself. I'd be here for ages! Kids gradually finished packed up, and left. Soon, Nico and I were the only ones left. Nico hadn't finished, but he began to frantically pack up. I followed his lead, but we were stopped before we could run away. Snape's cold eyes bore into us.

"What's holding you back from finishing your notes like everyone else?" He asked, not sounding at all like a concerned teacher who cared about his students.

"Sorry sir, we are both Dyslexic, so that means we–" I was stopped short.

"I know what Dyslexic means, don't give the teacher definitions." He glared again, clearly very annoyed. "You will have to work faster, otherwise you will be doing lots of catching up in your own time." I nodded, and Nico gulped. This was not going as well as I thought. He shooed us away, and we gladly turned on our heels and walked out the door. Once out of sight, we bolted for the next class.

Nico and I had just made it to the door to our Charms class when I saw something move out of the corner of my I looked in it's direction, I saw nothing but a closed door. Nico must have seen it too, because he gave me a look that said, _should we investigate?_ I wasn't sure what to do. We were already late for class, but this is a rare chance. A dangerous one too. I shook my head.

"We are already late, and it's too dangerous, we don't have any weapons." I hoped that it was the right choice. At first Nico seemed surprised, but then understood. facing a Ceuthonymus now would only end badly. We pushed the door into charms class, and where greeted by many eyes. The classroom itself was similar to the potions one, but with a larger window, and a few more found two seats and sat down, apologising. The teacher seemed to be only slightly annoyed. For a second, I thought we had gotten away without a big drama. Nope, too late for that.

"Welcome new students." He smiled at us, and his eyes crinkledI sighed, it was the introductions all over again. I figured that it would be like that for a while. "I am professor Flitwick, and I am your Charms teacher. I know you are new, but you will quickly catch on, no need to worry." The rest of the lesson was interesting, and I payed attention, but Nico was struggling to stay awake. I copied notes down, but to anyone else, they were probably just scribbles. I sighed, and fiddled with my wand. It was a greyish wood, and apparently it harnessed our powers. But mine was mostly normal, since I didn't have special powers. I got even more bored, and I started examining the room. In the last class, Snape had kept us too busy for me to get a good look at details in the room. Looking up at the ceiling, I saw amazing stone carvings. I itched to open up Daedalus's laptop and make a few sketches.

It felt like ages before class ended. Now, we had a quick morning tea before my next classes. I'm pretty sure they were something like transfiguration and Herbology. I hoped I'd get to talk to Percy and Leo for a little bit. Ron showed us the way, before leaving to see his buddies.

"Hey Ron?" I tapped him on the shoulder, and idea forming in my mind.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Do you happen to have a map of Hogwarts?" I was hoping for a spare map that we could use.

"Oh! Worried of getting lost?" He chuckled, and dug around in his bag. "Sorry mate, I don't have one on me. I thought it did, but I must have lost it. But you can probably get one from the dining room." He told me helpfully. I thanked him, and told him that I'd manage to find one. Hermione came up beside him.

"What do you need Annabeth?" Ron smiled at her.

"Annabeth was asking if I had a map of Hogwarts." He told her. I hoped they would just think I needed it so I wouldn't get lost. Though Hermione might have liked it if I did.

"Not to worry, I have a few in my bag." She pulled a fresh one out, and handed it to me.

"Thanks so much Hermione. This will really help." She smiled at me, before walking ahead with Ron. I rolled it up, and put it in my satchel. I dragged Nico behind me, and we started for the charms room. We investigated the door. I tried it, but it was locked. Behind it, something made a hissing noise. I cursed quietly, The Ceuthonymus was most likely behind that door. Nico looked at me. I moved a way off, and pulled out the map.

"I'm thinking that it will help if we mark on the map where we spotted the Ceuthonymus." Even saying the name made me hesitate and tremble. I found where we were now, and marked it down with a red dot. I also marked the other hallway where we saw it the day before. Nico nodded. Lookin at the map now, there was no connection, but I had a feeling this was necessary. Nico and I tiptoed down the hall until we were at a safe distance. Then, we hurried on to morning tea.

 _Yeah, so that's It! Hope you liked it, and I will try and write as much as i can on holiday, so I can post when I get back._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello everyone! So sorry about the long wait, I was on vacation. here is Chapter five! I am working on bringing up the suspense and action, because I don't want to make you bored. I still haven't quite figured out Private messaging, so I'm sorry if I don't reply to your reviews._ _I just wanted to say that you guys reviewing means a lot to me, and I try to use them as constructively as I can, and also a thank you. They are super helpful, and they make my day._

 _so anyway, on with the story!_

 **Leo's POV-**

After Percy and I had finished with the lesson, Harry took us to our next class, which was transfiguration. I had no idea what that was, but I just shrugged, and followed Harry. He led us to a room at the far end of a hall, and pushed the door open. Because our class had ended early, we were the only ones in the room. On the window, a tabby cat sat up, licking its paw. The cat jumped down onto the teacher's desk, and then on the floor. Before it hit the floor, it turned into an old lady. Percy gasped.

"Whoa. okay, did you just–?" I asked, pretty shocked. Frank was the only dude I knew that could do that.

"Turn from a cat into a human, yes I did. It's called transfiguration." The old lady smiled a bit.

"Sorry, you just surprised me a bit, with the cat thing." I told her.

"It's alright. I am professor McGonagall, and I am the transfiguration teacher." She smiled, but it was got lost in her wrinkles. I started feeling jumpy again, and itched to reach for my tool belt. Fortunately, she got us to sit down.

She introduced me and Percy to the subject, while Harry picked at his nails. This must have been first year stuff for him. I vaguely learned about what transfiguration meant, and what it did, before students started streaming in. Percy scooted over to make room for another kid to sit down. The lesson was pretty cool. I got to zap stuff with my wand. The aim was to try and make it appear different colours, shapes, and then completely different most others, it was just a excersize, or a drill. they went about perfectly zapping things as if it where normal. Percy's and mine didn't go as perfectly though. Percy got a few right, but mine just set on fire, and by the end of the lesson, I had a huge mound of ashes on my desk and face. Professor McGonagall sighed, and examined my wand.

"Maybe Ollivander made a small mistake." She had murmured. I couldn't say or do anything to fix it, so I just sat there awkwardly. When we were dismissed, Percy and I stayed to the end of the group, in case we could catch Annabeth and Nico. We didn't see them in the hall, but we found them eating silently at the dining table. Nico munched on a slice of bright pink cake, giving him a pink goatee. Annabeth attacked an apple, not even regarding us.

"Did you run into more trouble? I asked her, plopping into my seat. She jumped.

"What? Oh, No. Well sort of. Not really." Annabeth shook her head, as if shaking herself from the daze she was in. "Nico can explain, I'm thinking." She didn't explain further. Percy gave me a look that said, _she does that sometimes. Athena kid thing._ He shrugged. I totally understood, because I sometimes did a similar thing when I was doing a project.

"We spotted a small shadow that disappeared under a door. It could have been nothing, but we're not sure." He told us, wiping his mouth with a napkin. I my brow furrowed, this creature was a bit of a nuisance. I plucked a fat choc chip cookie from the table, and shoved it into my mouth. I had no idea where the food actually came from, but I assumed it was like those magical plates we had back at camp. But compliments to Hogwarts' chefs if they do cook. Next to me, Annabeth was murmuring to herself, her brows furrowed. I could probably set myself on fire and she wouldn't notice. We finished in silence, and Percy even managed to get hold of a blue piece of cake. He beamed at me through a mouthful of blue cake and frosting.

"What can we actually do? I mean, we don't know if Dumbledore will be able to get rid of it." I pointed out, looking mainly to Annabeth. If she heard me, she didn't let on. Instead, She murmured to herself faster. I would have laughed if we weren't under these circumstances, maybe even pranked her. The nice sounding bell tolled, and kids began to file out the exits again.

"Let's meet outside here, and we can all go explain to Dumbledore what happened at lunch." Nico said, trying to break the tension. Finally, Annabeth looked up, as if debating with herself.

"Nonsense! He'll help us!" I told her, confident that he was on our side. There was no way he couldn't be. old man, he can't really afford to be on the enemies side. at least I h

"I know, saying it out loud makes it seem wrong, but I have a feeling that it won't help." Annabeth rubbed her temples.

"Don't worry Annabeth, this will be okay, we've seen worse right?" Percy forced a smile, but the look she gave him told us that she wasn't sure about that. "Nevermind, let's just go to class, and we'll talk at lunch." Percy gave Annabeth a quick peck, before we hurried off to find Harry.

 **Annabeth's POV**

I just didn't know what to do, and it was driving me crazy. I was thinking maybe we could trap it somehow, and take it away for it to be killed properly. That way, one of its sources of power would be taken away from it. What worried me though, was what was so powerful that brought it here in the first place. I felt like there is a much greater picture I should be looking at, but it was like it was obscured in shadow.

As powerful as Hogwarts is, it didn't seem like the real reason why it was here. Ceuthonymi come to places with power, and try to seep into its system, but Hogwarts seems too protected for that to happen. Then, there was the problem with Nico's bag. All his stuff was covered in black goo, which also came from the Ceuthonymus when we found it in the hallway. All these facts made my head spin. It felt like one of those Sherlock Holmes books where there were many loose threads of information, but they connected. Somehow.

I was vaguely aware of Nico leading me to the next was a short walk before we arrived at another door. out of my stupor, I payed more attention to my surroundings. Simple brick walls, with a few turns, probably leading to other classrooms. we came across a creaky wooden door, with a sign on the front.

According to Hermione, this class was history of magic. Now this, I was curious about. I really wanted to know how far magic dates back, and if it could possibly relate to the Greek gods. I also hoped maybe this could give some answers about our Ceuthonymus problem.

We entered and sat down, I was next to Hermione, Nico on my other side. Ron was halfway through describing how boring this class was when the door flew open. And, to my surprise, a ghost came through. He floated to the front, and spoke.

"Hello class, welcome back, hope you had a lovely holiday." The ghost teacher had a wheezy voice, that must put people to sleep often. Next to me, Nico was glowering at the ghost, his knuckles white under the table.

There were a lot of ghosts here, but they avoided Nico as much as possible. The ghost's eyes flicked to Nico, and he swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing in his ghostly throat. "I-I see w-we have two new students. Welcome! I am professor Binns." He tried to sound friendly, but I could tell he was really worried. Nico glared at him some more.

"Anyway, open up your books, and today we will start with our new topic, The First Magic." He began to talk, and talk, and talk. I worked as hard as I could to stay awake, but it seems that Ron and Nico and given up the battle. In the end, I didn't learn much, nothing that helped anyway. It annoyed me that he repeated a lot of things he already I should try Hogwarts' library. I heard from Harry that It was pretty amazing, and truth be told, I was dying to see it. Hopefully wizards get free periods. As class was dismissed, Nico stayed back. I sighed, and hung back to wait for him.

"S-Son of H-Hades. How unexpected." He stammered, clearly not wanting to deal with Nico. i watched the two of them, entirely in the dark.

"What are you doing here?! I have half a mind to round up all of the ghosts and take 'em back to my father. He won't be happy you know." Nico growled.

" I know, I know, but you wouldn't take my fulfilling job from me right?" The ghost said nervously.

"Dodgy." Nico muttered. He gathered his stuff, and I joined him, heading for the door. "You know I'll tell my father someday." He threw that comment over his shoulder, before shutting the door behind us.

"Not bad death breath." I teased. He gave me a sheepish smile.

"I help out my father here and there." Was all he said.

 **Percy's POV**

Harry took us to our next class, which was Herbology. Already, that sounded kinda boring. We came to a greenhouse type room. It had a glass ceiling with wooden panels, and grey sunlight streaming through. Rows of plants lined the rectangular room, with a few on the walls. Kids separated into groups, and began to examine plants. Great.

"We started a group experiment last term, but you can join us if you like. Harry gestured to two other boys, who were measuring a large plant. It was a strange bean shape, with a tiny flower on the top.

"Do we have Prof. Sprout today?" Harry asked his two friends.

"Nah, heard she's not here today." one of the two boys told her. Oddly, I felt relieved. I missed the informalities of camp. At least I'd get a small break, teachers were annoying. The lesson continued on. While Harry and his friends measured, we wrote the notes and descriptions down with great struggle.

Leo somehow got his hands on garden wire, and was making a small bike of sorts. He finished, rolled it around for a bit, and then took it apart. He made it again when one of the boys asked him to, and they passed it around.

Bored, I wandered around the greenhouse, looking at all the strange plants and fungi. How wizards used these, I didn't know. I spotted a bright red orange splotch of colour in the corner of my eye. I turned around, thinking maybe I could see another cool mushroom. Nope, just leo trying to put out a fire that started on one of the plants.

Everyone started leaving early, probably because there was no teacher. Leo and I filed out of the door with the rest of the group, and onto our next adventure!

Turns out that adventure was the most boring class ever invented. We entered a room, not unlike others–except for one thing. Our teacher was a ghost. He had introduced himself as professor Binns, and continued on with the study of magic history. Leo's hands flew all over the place, creating things out of whatever he could get his hands on. I suspected he had his tool belt under his robe. I vaguely knew what was going on. He was talking (more like wheezing) about how first magic appeared. Maybe that would have intrigued me, but I was in a boredom trance, and my eyelids where drooping.

I was jolted back to reality when kids started hurrying out the door. Everyone was so eager to get away from this boredom hole. Leo and I practically leapt out the door.

"The fresh air, the Light… It's glorious!" Leo cried dramatically, putting a hand on his chest. I laughed, it was great to be outta there. We followed everyone to the lunch room, except we hung back, just outside the door. It was a bit awkward just standing there, but eventually Annabeth and Nico joined us. We made our way to Dumbledore's office. It was relatively easy, because it was just a straight hall, and then a right turn. When we came to his office, the door was slightly ajar. Inside, the teacher/cat was talking quickly, and they were in a heated discussion. Nico knocked on the door frame gently, and the two teachers stopped to look at us.

"Come in, come in, I hear you have much to tell us?" Dumbledore asked lightly. Annabeth nodded grimly. He gestured for us to sit down on a super squishy sofa. We all sat down, and Annabeth started to talk.

"Sir, we have discovered a very dangerous threat. And it is crucial that we get rid of it." Annabeth spoke in her debating voice, that she often used when trying to persuade others.

"What sort of threat is there?" Professor McGonagall raised one eyebrow suspiciously. _How can these teachers be so skeptical? They are wizards!_ I thought, annoyed at their lack of seriousness.

"Do you know what a ceuthonymus is?" Nico asked. The two teacher shook their heads.

"You are the Greek demigods, not me." Dumbledore said, winking,except, strangely enough, his eyes where cold and hard. Our faces didn't change at the joke. Nico sighed.

"A ceuthonymus is one of the most dangerous greek monsters there is. As a child of chaos itself, they breed in places of power. They can possess, and take on different shapes." Nico's eyes looked dark, and he glared at the two adults. Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged glances.

"We have very strong wards around this school, it is highly unlikely that anything so bad as you said would appear here. We will look into it though, but it is not our main priority at the moment." Proffessor McGonagall said. That was clearly a dismissal to me. Annabeth thanked them for their time, and turned on her heels. I tried to as well, but I tripped and nearly fell over. We left, and joined the others for lunch.

 **Harry Pov**

Most of the day was completely uninteresting. In lessons, we mostly reviewed the topics from last term. The new wizards still seem a bit off, but I didn't worry too much about it. Every one new needs some time to process things. But even then, they were acting strangely chill about it all.

When we were all back at the common room, they didn't talk much. In fact, they seemed too distracted to pay much. At lunch, they completely cut us off, but dinner was a bit better. The common room was strangely quiet, considering it was free time before lights out. Most kids probably had after school activities. I had been trying to teach Nico and Percy Wizard Chess, but they weren't very good at it. When our house patron said lights out, we shuffled into our dorms, brushed our teeth, and went to bed.

It was a few hours before everything went completely silent. My eyelids where drooping, but I jumped at the sound of the bed ladder creaking. I turned around, one eye shut, in case the person climbing down would see me. To my surprise. It was Leo. He shuffled along the carpeted floor, and slipped down the stairwell. I got up, careful not to make any noise, and followed him. I had just gotten to the common room when I heard a muffled thump, and caught a glimpse of Leo exiting the Gryffindor house. I followed, not worrying about the paintings on the walls. They slept like the dead.

Leo stuck to the shadows down the main hall, but then turned down a smaller one. I had never noticed that before, I walked down this hall every day, but I never noticed it. I came to the corner and found Leo hunched down in a corner. The hall that I never noticed before was a dead end, but I saw Leo press his finger to a triangle. It was roughly etched, and in the gloom, I couldn't see the full detail.

The carved lines glowed a piercing white, and it illuminated the small hallway. I could see heroes battling shadowy monsters, and men going off to war. It was horrific, even more so because none of the heroes seemed to be winning. Seeing all these pictures filled me with a sense of dread. Thoughts at the back of my head whispered to me. _Give up wizard, leave the others to die. None of you could possibly stop me, so why bother?. Give up, or you'll be minions like all the others._

I felt like these where my thoughts, arising from the back of my head, but they also weren't mine. It was a cold, hard voice, that felt like an anvil of melancholy where on my shoulders. Just as I was about to shout, the walls shook.

Dust and rubble crumbled from the ceiling, and where leo stood, now lay a doorway, roughly in the shape of a triangle. It looked a bit like the entrance to Diagon Alley. Leo stepped inside, and was swallowed by darkness. I waited for a few minutes, in silence except for my shallow breathing. When I deemed the coast clear, I slipped in side. I couldn't contain myself before I said,

"Whoa."

* * *

 _*btw Ceuthonymi is plural for Ceuthonymus*_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello all! I'm back with chapter six. Apologies for being a little late with the posts, but they will still come! Thanks again for all those who review, it really helps._

 _not much else to say for the moment, so enjoy!_

 **Chapter six**

 _Harry's Pov_

I was standing in a large cavern. The stone walls looked like they where supposed to be carved into a dome, but the people gave up halfway. On the smooth half of the room, it was dark, except for darker lines, which I assumed where engravings. In the other side, crystals, diamonds, and other precious stones were embedded in the rock, reflecting the fiery torchlight. It looked as if hundreds of cold eyes were staring back at me.

In front of me, Leo's flame crackled, and snapped me out of my daze. He turned slowly, and I realized he wasn't holding a torch, but summoning a flame from his bare hand. His wild brown eyes glowed with fire, and because he was mostly obscured in shadow, It looked like his eyes were another set of crystals on the wall. Strangely, his eyes had a ring of black around the outside, but anyone could have missed it if they weren't paying attention. But I couldn't worry about his eyes now.

"Hey, Leo, what on earth is going on man? Do you need help?" I asked, panicking. He grinned, his teeth glowing white. He looked like an evil cheshire cat.

"Why the interfering little wizard? Let the demigods die. you aren't a part of this battle." Leo hissed. Is voice didn't seem normal, it was hissing and cold. Despite the fire in his hand, Leo seemed to be turning cold. He raised his hands, and bronze braziers along the walls flared with light. In the corner, farthest from my view, I saw a hideous shadow. It dripped pure chaos and darkness, and it coiled in amongst itself in shadowy waves. I saw massive ebony teeth emerge from the darkness. They were as long as my wand, and razor sharp. I jumped, and retreated further back to the entrance. It rumbled and shivered, more dust crumbling.

"You have some choices to make Potter. Leave now, don't say anything, and maybe I will spare you. You could leave and tell the others, but you will die later. Stay and fight, and perish painfully. The choice is yours." Leo hissed. He cackled, and it resonated across the cavern. I didn't have to think about it too much. I turned and ran.

 _Leo's POV_

It was about five in the morning when that thing left my body. I lay in my bed sweating, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Everyone else still slept around me, like nothing happened. I was pretty sure someone had followed me. I rubbed my temples, trying to organize my thoughts.

it was around midnight, the darkness slipped into my head. It felt really weird, and it took control over my movements and actions. It also took over most of my mind. My normal Leo brain was squished into a tiny corner. It was like all I could do was watch the shadow coil through my memories.

I vaguely remembered going into a cavern, and doing some pretty dramatic stuff with my flames. I still wasn't sure where or how I got into that cavern though. I didn't think it was a part of the school. I was pretty sure I told a wizard that they would die. I also remembered the Ceuthony-thing sitting on the wall.

Even now, after that darkness left my mind, I still felt a tiny wisp of it lingering, but this time _it_ was squished into a small corner of my head. The whole time, I was struggling to get through it, and take control over my body again, but it just shoved me aside. Just thinking about all this sent chills down my back. I had no idea who I should tell, if I should even tell anyone at all.

In all my worry, I had drifted back into a fitful asleep. It felt like only seconds before I had to wake up again, but I was late. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Stretching, I hopped out of bed, and put my uniform. The robes were really starting to annoy me. I kept tripping over them. As I collected my stuff for the day, I noticed Harry giving me a really strange look. Was he the kid that I said would die? I still didn't know, I didn't remember his face. I shrugged it off for a moment as I joined Nico, Annabeth, and Percy in the common room. I still wasn't sure what to tell them, so I decided to wait until after I had food in my belly.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked, trying hard to keep the tiredness out of my voice.

"Not much. Surprisingly, I haven't had any super-bad dreams since we got here. Maybe they have spells or something around the dorm. A few wacky dreams from time to time, but nothing to bad." Annabeth told us. I agreed. When I was not being possessed by evil demons, I slept like a baby. I couldn't wait to tell them any longer.

"Guys, there is something I need to tell you–" I began, but the wizards came. I sighed. They were a tiny bit annoying. They thought they were strong with their magic and their occasional fights, but they barely did physical training. I doubted that they knew how to use a sword. Or any weapon for that matter.

"So what electives do you have?" Hermione asked, sitting down with us. We exchanged glances.

"Uh, I have study hall, and care of magical creatures." Percy said, pulling out his schedule from his pocket. Like everyone else's it was brown parchment, and scrawled in fancy cursive. I could barely read mine, with the Dyslexia and all that. Hermione looked to the rest of us. I shrugged,

"Study hall, for both periods." I pointed out. I knew I had study hall for one, but I couldn't read the other. I'll check later. I didn't remember choosing any electives. Maybe Dumbledore or Chiron did.

"I've got Arithmancy and study hall." Annabeth said squinting at her schedule. Nico shrugged.

"Study and care for magical creatures." He said coolly. Then I heard a collective gasp. Harry jumped up, and ran for the stone door. It was open, and kids were huddling around the painting. I jumped up and down until i saw what everyone was worrying about.

The painting with our cheery lady had been dark rips, as if done by something with giant claws. Dark liquid dripped from where the canvas was torn.

"Don't worry dearies, I'm alright, not a scratch on me!" The lady in the painting squeaked. She peeked out from the corner of the frame, avoiding contact with the slashes. Our ghost patron then chose the time to appear from the wall, going straight through the painting, and a few of the kids closest to the painting.

"Nothing to see here! Head on to breakfast, this will be dealt with, but you crowding around it doesn't help." He said, shooing kids down the hall.

We headed to breakfast, where I stuffed myself. After last night, I was left really hungry. We all had our own normal classes for the morning, and before lunch. Then after lunch, we had our electives. Annabeth told me that I did have two study hall sessions after all. Ouch.

We went our separate ways, and I struggled to get through the morning. Percy and I had Charms and History of magic. Charms was okay, it was like transfiguration but easier, and we had more room to be 'creative'. Yet again, I ended up with a pile of ash on my desk. Except I did successfully make a feather hover, before it exploded into flames, singing the eyebrows off me and anyone close by.

Then, we had History of Magic, and Holy Hades, it was torture. I'm pretty sure that if I went to the fields of punishment, this is what I'd be eternally stuck in. We had a floaty, wheezy, fat ghost for a teacher, and all he did was talk. I found a few gears and bolts in my pants pocket, and I must have made at least a hundred different things before class was over. I could tell Percy was struggling as well. We numbly made our way to morning tea, and my brain was frazzled because of all that boredom.

We found Annabeth and Nico sitting with Ron and Harry. Great. Now I can't tell anyone until lunch. Maybe study hall was better, because I had it with them for the first session, and we would have quiet time to think about it. Even though I hated quiet time.

Morning tea was great, I had many, many cake slices and cookies, and some proper tea for a change. We talked with the wizards, and I think we were beginning to be friends. There still seemed to be an air of suspicion between us, and conversation was still rocky. It was alright though. I helped myself to another slice of cake, the sugar calming my ADHD a little bit.

"Oh Gods Leo, you should really stop eating, you're going to be sick!" Annabeth chuckled, although she helped herself to a cake slice as well. I grinned, and put more cake in my mouth. I was about to reply, but I couldn't. Too much cake in my mouth.

"Gods? Why'd you add an 's' to it?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"She meant to say God I think." I replied. At least, that's what I meant to say. It came out more like, "shi menth to thay od I fink" Annabeth rolled her eyes at me.

"Did I add an s? Oops, my mistake." She said lightly, smiling. I wanted to point out that she had cake in her teeth, but I didn't. That would be rude. Fortunately, Harry couldn't ask anymore, because it was time to go. We split up again, and marched on to our next classes. Ugh

 _Nico's POV_

I don't know if Leo noticed, but Harry was acting a bit different at morning tea. He kept looking at Leo, narrowing his eyes, then looking at his hands. I wondered if they had argued or something. We can't afford to make enemies with this guy. He was a powerful wizard. but If it went down to a fight, we might be able to win, but I'd rather avoid that.

Now, Annabeth and I were heading to herbology. That sounded bor-ing! It was just us because Ron was feeling sick, and Hermione just wasn't here. We had Herbology, according to my schedule, which was really hard to read. We came to a greenhouse, attached to the school by a small hallway. We entered a bright steamy room, filled with plants. Except looking closer, they weren't normal plants. Brightly coloured fungi and strange sprouts took up the majority of the room.

"Welcome back class, apologies for being absent yesterday!" The cheery voice echoed around the room. I couldn't find who owned the voice until a figure emerged from the shadows of some sort of palm tree.

"Professor Sprout," Ron whispered to me. The woman was short and stumpy. Over her robes, she wore a flowery gardening apron, with her wand and a spade tucked into the pocket.

"So, everybody get excited!" She sang, "We have a very interesting term ahead of us! Also, a warm welcome to the new students that will be joining us! What are your names?" She smiled widely.

"I'm Annabeth, and this is Nico." Annabeth said, her stormy grey eyes narrowed slightly. Professor sprouts continued the lesson briefly reviewing last term's notes-which was helpful. Apparently we had to do a research project on a plant, and present it to the class. It was up to us to present it how we liked. Luckily we had a few weeks to do it though. At the end, we had ten minutes to begin choosing a plant. Annabeth was exchanging notes with other kids, so she had 'background info before she chose her plant'. I was wandering around looking for one to choose, but wasn't sure which one to actually do.

"Hey Nico, I have a special plant for you, if you can't think of one." I turned around. Behind me, Professor sprout beckoned me forward. She was sitting at her desk. She tapped her fingers on a cardboard box. "This one is a _very_ interesting plant. You'll be able to find a lot of information on this one." She said. From under her large witch hat, green eyes sparkled, set by a ring of black around the very outside of the iris. _Strange,_ I thought, _just like Dumbledore._ She pushed it across her desk, and I took it.

"Uh, thanks, I guess?"

"Just be careful, and study hard." Professor Sprout said with a wink. Nico thanked her and joined Annabeth, who was now frowning at a mushroom.

Well, not really a mushroom. It was glowing, and was shaped like a teardrop. The top was baby blue, while the stem was a dark blood red. She was stroking her chin, and her stormy grey eyes narrowed at the plant.

"Hey, is that your plant?" I asked. Annabeth jumped.

"Jeez Nico, don't scare me like that!" She sighed, "so far, this is all I could find. Not much is it?" Annabeth poked it, and it wobbled like jelly. "Did you pick one? What's in that box?" She asked. I opened it, and because I hadn't looked at it before. I was just as surprised as Annabeth.

It was a little vine in a pot wrapped around a small stick. Strange part was that is was charcoal /ash coloured. There were small thorns running up it. They looked razor sharp.

"Never seen that." Annabeth said. "Do you know where she got it from?"

I shook my head. It was strange, but it was worth a shot. Annabeth looked back to her derpy mushroom and frowned. "Do you want to trade?" She asked, hopefully.

"Not a chance." I replied. Annabeth laughed. We then sat down, and spent the remainder of our time making scientific sketches. Even at the end of the class, I didn't have much. My notes were okay, but the drawings were terrible. Annabeth, on the other hand, had captured hers perfectly, and had labeled everything in detail. she made the blobby mushroom look kinda cool.

"Ok, this is about the end of class. You can leave when you finishing packing your area up." Professor Sprout said. She was examining and old scroll, With reading glasses perched on the tip of her nose. She didn't look up while talking.

Luckily, Annabeth and I didn't make a much of a mess to begin with. Everybody got cardboard boxes to put their plants in–some even had holes poked in the top. That made me nervous. Annabeth and I left, to quickly put our plants back at the dorms before our next class.

We hurried to our Astronomy class, which was at the other end of the school. We half walked, half ran down an empty hall.

That was when the Ceuthonymus attacked.

* * *

 _So, thanks for reading! Again, I would like to know if I'm dropping tension or not. My aim is to keep it escalating, but feedback helps me do that. Thanks to those who reviewed already, you guys made my day!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi guys! Apologies for the late post, but thanks for bearing with me. I was actually finishing and editing this in school, but I am a bit busy with homework and all that. I have been working on bringing suspense up, but let me know if you have any suggestions or comments. Thanks again for reviewing, it has been so helpful, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

 **Chapter #7**

Annabeth's _POV_

We were walking down the hallway, and all was normal. Then, suddenly out of the blue, the Ceuthonymus attacked. It spiraled out from a small hallway, the shadows along the rest of the hallway seemed to join it. It was about 50 yards away, and spiraling towards us. I ducked, not daring to say anything, but I just hoped Nico had the sense to stay quiet as well.

Nico hit the floor next to me with an _oomph_ , and we lay flat on our stomachs for a few seconds, processing what had just happened. I was about to get back up, but Nico pushed me onto the floor again, and the Ceuthonymus roared past, inches away. On instinct, my hand went for my dagger, but then I remembered it was still tucked under my bed. I silently cursed myself.

This wasn't like fighting normal monsters, we had to be dead quiet. I struggled to keep myself from gasping for air. The Ceuthonymus might even pick up on loud breathing. That would make it hard for Nico and I to work together. Thankfully, he hadn't made a noise yet, but it could happen to either of us. We got to our feet slowly, careful with our footsteps.

In the direction we came from, the Ceuthonymus stopped. The coiling darkness and evil seemed to suck the light of the hallway. In other words, it was terrifying. Nico drew his wand as if it was a knife. It was the only potential weapon we had, even though it wasn't actually that sharp. This was because we had promised Chiron that we wouldn't carry weapons around the school.

I suppose we'd have to fight like wizards then. Only problem, you can't 'fight' a Ceuthonymus.

I drew my wand, wishing it was sharp. Another problem was that we couldn't actually do a spell without talking. I began trying to formulate a plan in my head, but the odds were _not_ in our favour. Something metal fell out of Nico's pocket, and clanged to the floor. His ring.

The Ceuthonymus froze-literally. The wisps of darkness emanating off of it stopped in mid air. Then, before we could move, it shot towards us. Nico tried to throw up a wall of stone, but couldn't finish it in time. He ducked and rolled. I rolled, but I crashed into the stone wall. Smoke started filling the room, blurring my eyes and making me cough. Nico's hand grabbed mine, and he pulled me out of the thick of it. Coughing, we squished into an alcove, out of the Ceuthonymus's charging range.

"Okay, I don't think we can fight it, no weapons, and not nearly enough experience with spells. Should we run?" Nico whispered, so quietly I could barely hear him. I shook my head.

"No, I think our best chance is to trap it. Even if it's only temporary. You got anything on you?" He shrugged, spreading his hands wide. We had nothing. I scanned the room for anything that could be of use. our school supplies were scattered around the floor, and I didn't think we would be able to reach them in time. There. On the other side of the hall, there was a matching Alcove. But that one had two sconces.

"I have an idea. Stay here, watch my back." I told Nico. Peering around the side of the alcove, I saw the Ceuthonymus swirling. I looked as if it was trying to locate us again, with either a scent or a noise. I was dismayed when I realized it was slowly moving in our direction.I took my shoes off, leaving them with Nico. I Dashed across the floor, my feet making no noise against the stone. I ducked into the alcove, pressing myself against the walls. I gripped one of the sconces, and yanked.

The rim was quite sharp, and it cut into my fingers. I kept pulling carefully, although it grated against concrete and stone. It came loose, and It was all I could do to not drop it. Now, onto the next. This one was harder. With a grunt, I pulled hard, and It came free. Rubble crumbled down, and the stone wall started moving. It slid open slowly.

"Annabeth!" Nico shouted. The door was open now. I turned to Nico. alarmed, and turned straight into a mass of darkness.

I was frozen to the spot. I felt like I had just plunged my head into the river Styx, but ten times worse. Dark, whispering voices filled my head, and seeped into my bones. I felt my soul being weighed down by this mass of darkness. The darkness reminded me of every time I failed. Like the conversation with my mother on the subway. I swayed on my feet, and I just wanted to sink in, let the darkness take me away…

"ANNABETH!" I heard Nico roar. It sounded muffled, but it brought me to out of my daze. I could see everything, but it was like I was looking through a veil of smoke. Nico tried swishing his wand like a knife, but it just passed through the Ceuthonymus.

He pulled me out of the mist. My foggy mind clearing up, like someone blew all the smoke away. I got up, and grabbed the broken sconce. I chucked it as hard as I could, into the dark door. The ceuthonymus slithered into the door. I ran to the stone entrance, and pushed the door shut. Nico joined in to help. When I heard it thud, I sighed. we sank down to the ground, breathing hard.

"Come on, we have to hurry, we probably missed half of astronomy already." He grumbled. "Now we have to think of an excuse."

I Looked down at myself. My stupid robe had a few tears and scratches from the stones, but nothing too bad. My hands were bleeding, thin lines sliced across the base of my fingers. We both had a few bruises, but we'd seen worse.

We collected our books, which were scattered across the hallway, and ran to astronomy. When we arrived, everyone was quiet. All eyes on our backs as we sat down.

"Where have you been? You've missed half of the class! Unless you have a proper excuse, you will both have detention," the teacher said by way of greeting. We nodded, apologising profusely. I opened my books, and kept my head down.

 _Percy's POV_

While Annabeth and Nico were no doubt getting along just fine in their astronomy class, Leo and I needed saving. We were in Potions, and we had a theory lesson. Meaning, no making stuff explode, just sweet, sweet writing. Our teacher, Professor Snape had us write down everything he said. And he was talking fast.

Even with dyslexia, I cringed at my terrible handwriting. I think I may have switched to ancient Greek at some point. My hands were aching from holding the fancy feather pen. I had been trying to hold it gently, to avoid crushing it, but it was hard to write fast _and_ hold it delicately. Leo had broken one, and was on to his second. In spots on his white shirt. Why can't they just have normal pens?

Snape was either rambling on about roots of chemical reactions. I lost track. While I was trying to remember what he said in the last sentence, Leo was trying to keep his hands cool. They kept heating up, and he hat to sit on them so no one noticed.

It felt like ages of this torture before we were dismissed, with a stern warning from Snape to remember to study. When Leo and I exited, we both let out a _whoosh._

"Whew! That was exhausting!" I said. Leo frowned.

"Tell me about it dude. Do you smell something burning in here?" He asked, wrinkling his nose. I took a deep sniff, but couldn't smell anything bad. We continued down the hallway, stepping around a scone, which was lying on the ground. As we trekked to morning tea, I was beginning to realise how much the attack on the painting was affecting other people. I was too focused on our problems before, but other kids were getting jumpy. People huddled in the groups, not loitering on their way to morning tea. It was odd, the Ceuthonymus set the mood so efficiently.

We arrived in the dining hall, and it seemed as if the bad news bubble was just surrounding the Gryffindor table. Either the other houses didn't know, or just pretended not to care. We sat down, facing the wizards. They all eyed us suspiciously. I might have snorted, they were terrible at hiding it.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked innocently. So he picked up on it too then.

"What? Oh, nothing, I suppose it's just the attack, we're all a bit jumpy." Ron said. He had magically gotten better in time for lunch. Hermione was still missing, although the two wizards didn't seem worried by it. Leo was throwing grapes high up in the air, and catching them in his mouth. As I was about to say something to Ron, Annabeth and Nico trudged in, shoulders sagging. They looked exhausted. I knew firsthand that they'd been in a fight, The bruises were well covered up though, I'll give them that.

"What's up?" I asked casually. I really meant _are you alright?_ She shook her head, _I'll explain later._ I shrugged, hoping to the gods it wasn't the Ceuthonymus. Annabeth and Nico ate a few bites, but I didn't really feel hungry anymore. My gut was trying to tell me something, but I didn't know what it was. I could see Dumbledore and a few of the other teachers deep in conversation. I sighed, they were a lot less helpful than Chiron. I knew coming to a wizard boarding school would be tough, but this wasn't what I expected. It wasn't physically challenging, but it was quite a handful. At least wizards didn't have to battle monsters 24/7.

No one on the Gryffindor table seemed to be that hungry. Most people were just pushing their food around, or playing with it absently. It was pretty boring.

"The owls are late. I wonder what holding them up." Harry muttered to Ron. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I didn't bother to question it.

"Sometimes the news and mail is delayed." Ron said. They kept looking out the far window, but the owls they were expecting did not come. Even the other students and teachers were nervously glancing up at the windows. The bell sounded and we began to shuffle off. But as we were about to reach the door, I pulled Annabeth aside, keeping my voice low, "Listen, you've got to tell me what happened. Did you fight the Ceuthonymus?"

A grim nod, steely grey eyes boring into me. She then recounted what had happened, brief, but brutal. I ran my hands through my hair. I was trying to think of some way to stop this, to help, but nothing came to me. At least, no smart Ideas came to me. "Never mind, we'll think of something. I might have a plan." I said, walking quickly to catch up with Leo and Nico, Annabeth matching my pace. I could almost feel feel her rolling her eyes when she said, "Percy, you have no common sense, and neither do your plans."

Before I could argue, we reached the wizards. They were giving us directions to the library, and then directions to where Nico and I had our magical creatures class. I was kind of excited, as long as none of the animals are my cousins. We followed Nico, (who seemed to be the only one who actually paid attention to the directions) to the library.

We plonked ourselves down at a isolated table, hidden by rows and stacks of books. We had made sure no one could hear us.

"Okay spill." Leo said. "What happened?" Annabeth and Nico shared a grim look, before Nico started to tell us what happened. When he finished I proposed my plan. It wasn't a great one, but at the moment, we haven't got anything better, not even from Annabeth.

"I think we should take a look around tonight–with our weapons of course." I said.

"Really Percy? Splitting up is a bad idea, and if someone catches us…"

"Guys." Leo said, fingers drumming against the table. "I have been trying to tell you this all day, and It's important." He said, his face grave. " I was possessed by the ceuthoni-thing." He looked down at his hands. Annabeth sucked in a breath, and Nico stiffened.

"Let him continue." I said quietly. Leo nodded, and continued describing as much as he could, but sometimes his memory failed him.

"Do you remember where you entered? Did anyone follow you?" She asked, pulling out a map of hogwarts from her robes.

"It was in a small dead end in that long hallway between the Gryffindor dorm and the dining hall."

"I think I may have seen that one." was Annabeth's only reply. She circled a spot on the corridor in thick red pen. She looked up at Leo, grey eyes dark, but gestured for him to continue.

"Harry followed me." Leo said.

"Do you realise what that means?! they'll be watching from now on! They now stand in our way, and could seriously mess things up! now we have to worry about them on our backs as well as the Ceuthonymus" Annabeth cried. Nico shushed her.

"Still can't pronounce the damn name." Leo muttered under his breath.

"It's not his fault, we can sort this out." Nico said. "I think we should give Percy's plan a shot. If he and I go and look around, maybe we can get some more information, even as to the location of the dead end." He said, his face revealing nothing. I nodded, but Annabeth didn't look convinced.

"It'll be fine, we'll bring our weapons. Nico's shadows might be able to help conceal us." I told her. She frowned,

"Just stick together, okay?" She said, writing notes down around the map. She pointed to the spot she'd circled. "What do you think this might be?" She asked me. I thought about what it could be. A secret tunnel to an underground lair... It slowly dawned on me. I wished it hadn't.

"It couldn't be." I said. There was no way it could possibly be what I thought it was. She sighed, shaking her head.

"The Labyrinth has reached Wales." She declared.


	8. Chapter 8

_hello everyone! Sorry about the late post, but I suspect I will be taking around two weeks to post, but I will try my best. Thanks again for all your helpful reviews, they have been really helpful._

 _Just a warning for this chapter, there are death scenes, so if you are sensitive to murder/suicide, please skip as you like. (although I suspect most of you like the gory goods)_

 _Anyways, let me know what you think I can improve on, and I will try and add any requests into the following chapters(within reason). I hope you enjoy!_

 **Chapter #8**

 _Percy's POV_

Leo's fingers stilled, I stopped too. thinking back on it, it made sense, and I should have seen already. I mean, with the dead end hallway appearing, and the way Leo got into that cavern, it made sense. Quite obvious really. Even so, I shuddered, remembering the events that occurred last time we tangled with the Labyrinth. The idea of going through all that again…

No. _we will work this out. It will all be fine._ I told myself, although my gut said otherwise. Around me, everything and everyone was quiet, only the faint rustling of paper and books to be heard.

"I thought we shut it down!" I whispered. She shook her head.

"We did. But remember that it goes across pretty much the whole world. It stopped living, but it is still there. It will take a while for the entire thing to stop... and disappear," She informed us. Nico just shook his head in disbelief.

"I will weigh our options, and come up with ASAP." Annabeth said, collecting her books and standing up. I could tell she really had no idea what to do.

The Ceuthonymus is a different kind of threat, and trust me, it's not as easy as it sounds to stop it. I scanned my mind for any ideas to help her out, but I wondered why I wasn't as scared as I thought I would.

"Time to go already?" Leo asked. He looked crestfallen that he was stuck here for another hour. Poor Leo.

Annabeth nodded, jerking her chin towards the clock on the wall.

Nico and I stood up, a short goodbye before heading out the door. We headed out the door, walking along a corridor with open windows. We veered to the left, past the strange flying broom field, to a clearing surrounded by forest. It had stables, a maintenance shack, and a fenced in area. The man from the train–Hagrid–was trying to organize the animals. Once the small group assembled, he coughed, and introduced himself.

"Hello all." He spoke in a thick accent I couldn't quite place. Maybe it was Scottish? "Yeh probably all know me by now, but for those who don't, I am Hagrid, yer Care for Magical creatures teacher. I got a real surprise for yeh today, so hurry up! Follow me!" we followed him to a smaller pen, connected to what looked like some spacious horse stalls. Then I saw what–or who–was inside.

Porkpie.

I put a hand over my face, and tried to sink to the back of the group. Too late. He trotted over to where I was standing, and neighed brightly. " _Yo wassup boss! I missed you Black Jack says hi, he misses you. And the donuts."_

I tried to ignore him, but he kept talking. And students began to as well.

"Dude can you understand that horse?"

"Do you know him?"

And on, and on, and on. I tried to think of some excuse, but none came. "Look, guys, I don't know how, but I can kind of communicate with them." I said. There was nothing I could tell them to make this un-awkward. I jerked my chin to the Pegasus. "His name is Porkpie."

Thankfully, before I had to explain anymore, Hagrid lumbered over. He clapped a hand on my back and laughed heartily.

"Well then! This lad 'ere can help me run the class!" He said, before continuing on with the lesson.

" _Pssst. Boss. this might not be the time, but do actually have donuts? They just give me healthy stuff here."_ He tucked his wings in tight, shifting on his feet. I gave him an incredulous look.

" _What the Hades are you doing here Porkpie?_

" _Well you see Boss, I followed you. "_

" _What?! Why?"_

" _I don't know, but something in the air around you smelled wrong."_ He whinnied, and trotted to where Hagrid was standing. Nico nudged me.

"Real subtle." he said. I glared at him. But then Hagrid called my name.

"Percy, can you tell us what Porkpie seems to be saying?" He asked, his eyes crinkling with his smile. I walked up to him, and listened to Porkpie. " _Boss, you gotta listen to me. That smelly ghost is near. Go look for it, I'll keep them distracted."_ I nodded, and patted his head.

 _Nico's POV_

Percy straightened a bit at whatever Porkpie said. He told us that Porkpie just wanted donuts–to the laughter of many–but he excused himself to the bathroom, and grabbed my hand. He pulled me through the trees, and to the edge of the forest, where the bright grass met the trees.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Porkpie said he smelled the Ceuthonymus. It's around here somewhere." His green eyes flashed, scanning the area around us.

"Do you have Riptide?" I asked, feeling for the small dagger I had brought with me. He nodded, pulling it out of his pocket. It still amazed me at how normal his sword looked in pen form. We crept along the walls of the school, keeping to she shadows. As we turned a corner, I got a fright from the shadow that a stone Gargoyle cast. I was about to turn back, but a funny mound shape thing stuck out of the grass. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I realised what it was–who it was.

A gruesome twisted corpse lay in front of us. I could only barely recognize who it was, but I recognised the witch's hat decorated in vines lying near the body.

Professor Sprout.

As if in answer to my thoughts, a tiny curl of black smoke leaked out of her mouth, merely melting into the closest shadows. Percy swore viciously under his breath, and I did the same.

"Oh my gods." I whispered. "What do we do?" I crouched down beside the poor woman.

"I'll get Hagrid." Percy said, and without another word, he sprinted off. I couldn't breathe quit right. I was used to death, but this was not the same. I felt like it was all our fault; the Ceuthonymus being here, destroying stuff, and possessing innocents. It was a demigod's curse; At the cost of our small amount of safety, others are harmed instead.

My breathing went ragged as I checked for a pulse, although I already knew she was dead. I saw Percy and Hagrid sprinting towards me, and they fell to their knees beside me.

"Percy, tell the others to go back to their dorms. Tell everyone one on the way. I'll take care of this." And with that, Hagrid gently picked up Professor Sprout, and carried her away. She was tiny compared to him. Percy and I took off in a sprint, and went to get the others.

 _Harry's POV_

Something was wrong. Really wrong. A demon showed up at school, unlike any I've ever heard of. And it was conveniently timed with the arrival of four new wizards. So I decided to have a look around for myself. For once, ron was actually doing work in study hall, so I decided to let him be. I hurried up to the dorm, checking for the cavern entrance on the way. Nothing

I now stood in the boy's dorm, and I didn't see anything odd. I looked under Percy's bed, but only found a few lolly wrappers. Leo's was similar.

Nico's had something way different. It was a strange black sword. It was like no sword I have ever imagined. I reached out to touch it, my finger sliding along smooth stone. It was Ice cold, and it burned my finger. It was also razor sharp. What was this kid doing here with a sword?

I was about to pick it up, but I heard a muffled rumbling in the hallways. I knew that sound, it was that slowly growing rumbling as kids scurried from class to class, the entire school emitting a hum of rustling papers, chatter, and feet scraping against stone.

It was that kind of rumble that I heard grow now, except for the fact that it was louder, more urgent. As if everybody was leaving all at once.

I let the mattress fall back into the bed frame, and went down to the common room to see what the commotion was about. I was greeted by an onslaught of Gryffindor kids. I found Ron in the crowd, and grabbed his shoulder.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear, we were all to stay in our dorms for the rest of the day, something about a minor threat, but I'm not so sure…" He shook his head, and continued,"Where were _you_?" he asked, raising a brow. I shrugged, my mind scrambling for an excuse.

"I forgot something." I said quickly. I'd tell him about the sword later. We plonked ourselves down on the couch near the fireplace. Then I spotted Hermione's frizzy head heading towards us. I moved over as she sat down.

"Where were you? You were gone for almost two days!" I said. She winced slightly,

"I got this really bad stomach ache in the early morning. Nurse said it was a stomach bug."

"How are you feeling?" Ron asked, a small frown in my direction. She shrugged.

"Much better, but still a bit sick. I'll be fine though." I just nodded. I made to tell them about the sword, but Annabeth and Leo entered before I could. She rushed over, her hair falling out of her ponytail. Leo was only one step behind her.

"Have you seen Percy of Nico?" She asked, her strange steely grey eyes filled with worry. I shook my head, and so did Ron. She glared in Hermione's direction, but Hermione shook her head.

"We haven't seen either of them." She said, giving Annabeth and Leo and even look. Annabeth turned on her heels, about to hurry out the door. Leo sprinted up the boy's dorm, and ran back down with something bulging from his pocket.

"Ambrosia" He whispered to Annabeth. She nodded once, her features grim.

"Wait!" Ron called. "We are supposed to stay in here, some danger about the school." Annabeth paused to look back at us. She rolled her eyes, and stalked out the door. Leo gave us a wink, before jogging out, and disappearing down the hall.

"What are they doing? Did they even hear me?"They probably did." Hermione muttered vaguely.

"We need to follow them." I then quickly told them about the sword as they stood up, making sure they had their wands. "We need to know if they really are who they say they are." Ron nodded, and so did Hermione. We rushed out the door, just before it was about to close. We kept to the side of the hall, and followed it to where it split. I looked down each side, and saw a flash of blonde hair turn a corner down the left hall.

"This way." I whispered. We speed walked down the hall– not daring to run because of the noise it made on the stone– and paused at where I saw Annabeth. She had left the school, and She and Leo were now in a flat out sprint through the green fields. They halted to a stop when they were joined by Nico and Percy.

Hermione, Ron, and I kept close to the wall, and we hurried closer. We ducked behind a stone pillar with a gargoyle on top.

"Percy! What the in the name of Hades happened?" I heard Annabeth hiss.

"Professor Sprout… the Ceuthonymus." Percy panted through his teeth. "It possessed her. It is getting powerful, soon we might not be able to stop it. I thought we shut down the–" He stopped.

Something clicked, and everyone's heads turned towards the sound. Percy muttered some sort of curse in another language. The door we had came through had just been locked.

Our school was on lockdown.

Percy ran to the door, and Annabeth followed. He started to bang on the door, but she grabbed his fist.

"What are you doing? Banging on a door after lockdown won't get us in." he nodded slowly, and turned. Annabeth stormed to where Nico and Leo were now running towards them. She then spotted us. She narrowed her eyes, and stalked towards us. She was holding her dagger, angling it to the side, ready to attack.

"What are you doing here." She said, not really a question, but more of an order to explain. We stood up slowly, and I turned to face her,

"I should be asking you the same thing." Annabeth rolled her eyes,

"We can't trust you." She said it as if it was obvious.

"I saw Leo go down into a cavern with this beast. If anything, we can't trust _you."_ I pointed out. Percy sighed, but Annabeth continued.

"Okay fine. This monster is a Ceuthonymus, and we have to stop it, but you are in the way." I raised a brow, and Hermione shot up.

"You must realise we've done this sort of thing before." She said, glaring at Annabeth.

"So have we." Leo added. Annabeth shot him a look. I sighed.

"If you swear that we can trust you, and we promise the same, we can work together. Our powers might come in handy."

 _Annabeth's POV_

I didn't want to work with these dorks. They would just get in the way. I eyed all of them. They wanted to protect their school, which was admirable. But how? What other skills did they have besides their wands? I sighed, but nodded slowly.

"Okay we will tell the truth. But… If you tell anyone else, I will end you. I mean it." I glared at each of them, making direct eye contact. Percy nodded, a look of understanding on his face.

"She means it. She judo flipped me when we reunited after almost a year." I rolled my eyes. but he was right. I did Judo flip him, and I did mean it.

Harry gulped–not too reassured by Percy's remark–but it was the only sign of fear. I looked to the rest of my friends, "You tell them." I jerked my head at the wizards, and Nico took a deep breath.

"Okay. You've heard of the greek gods right? Yep? Well, they're real, and sometimes they have kids with mortals. And the result of that leads to demigods. Like us. I'm a son of Hades, god of the underworld. The whole of the greek mythology world is real as well, and that's why there is a Ceuthonymus here. We are supposed to be here because it is not safe in the US at the moment, and there are a lot more monsters than normal." he looked at them daring them to laugh. But Hermione let out a cackle.

"You expect us to believe in this?! I thought you were weird, but–" Nico clapped a hand over her mouth, to Hermione's outrage. I really did not like her. Nico summoned his sword from shadows, and Hermione's eyes widened. I drew my dagger, and Percy uncapped his pen. I could see smug delight as he revealed. I rolled my eyes a little bit.

"Something's in the forest." He said, his dark eyes surveying the forest which was only a few feet away.

"Do you have the Ambrosia Leo?" I asked. He nodded. "Good. We're gonna need it." I said. Leo drew a hammer from his belt, which was somehow tucked under his robes.

"I don't know how powerful you are, but if you haven't had physical training, you might be at a small disadvantage. It is never smart to rely solely on your powers during a fight. No offense, just stating the facts." I said. Percy turned towards me,

"We didn't bring armour with us did we?" I shook my head in answer. He sighed, but continued to get ready. I watched as the wizards drew their wands despite what I said. I shrugged. We started towards the forest, which was darker than the woods on the other side of the school.

"You do realize this is the forbidden forest?" Ron said, gulping. I shrugged, although I was also a bit worried. It was an advantageous place to set up an ambush, but we had to go.

We entered, Nico and Leo at the back of the group, and Percy and I at the front. The trees loomed over us,

Nothing could have ever prepared me or what we saw.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hi Peeps! I apollogise about such a late post. I have been really busy with school stuff, and I just haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write. After this week, I am mostly clear with tests and stuff though, so I should be back to normal posting time, which is about every two weeks now. Also, thank you so much to those who have taken the time to review, and I haven't replied back to you, I'm not trying to be rude, I have just been busy, but your comments are much appreciated! I have actually written my own prophecy in this chapter, so let me know what you think of it, because it took ages to think of stuff that rhymed lol._

 _Anyways, hope you enjoy!_

 **Chapter #9**

 _Percy's POV_

I heard it first. Or I didn't hear it. It was that awful silence, that tells you doom is near, or the kind of silence that is so thick and still, you could cut it with a knife. Then I stepped in it. I was at the very front of the group, and as I was tromping onwards, my foot broke through something old and dead. I jumped back, and everyone halted behind me. Looking down, my foot had just stepped in an old log. Phew–well, at least it wasn't anything worse?–Except that the log looked like it was burnt, and it was as loose as ash and charcoal. I gingerly pulled my foot out of the log, and as I moved, it crumbled away more. Then I brought my eyes up to the clearing before me.

It was not hideous, disgusting, or slimy like in the horror movies. It was pretty much the opposite. All the trees surrounding the clearing were nothing but black husks. The grass stuck up in sharp spikes, and when I stepped on them, they crumbled to dust. Nico who was at the back now arrived, and he sucked in a breath at the ominous sight. I stepped forward into the clearing, and the rest joined me.

"What in the name of Hephaestus happened?" Leo breathed, his breath fogging up before him in the chill dusk light.

Dusk.

It had taken us a lot longer than I thought. I cursed, turning to face my friends, they seemed to be realising the same thing. I looked around again, but noticed nothing new. Then Annabeth cursed in greek loudly, and we all jumped at the sudden outburst.

"What is it?" I asked, a bit nervously. She grumbled,

"Gods I'm an idiot. I can't believe I didn't notice…." She trailed off.

"Spit it out Annabeth." Leo said, not taking his eyes off of the black covered clearing. Annabeth sighed.

"Well, I didn't notice that the Ceuthonymus not only feeds off of powerful sources, but life itself. It basically ruins composure of any kind. " She breathed, and then began mumbling about cell structures. I took a moment to understand what she just said. Chaos was the first primordial. Ever. So that means, even a shadow of that power was crazy dangerous. I felt sick in my stomach just thinking about it.

"Chaos?" Hermione asked, the sound startled me a bit. Hermione hadn't said anything at all since we left Hogwarts. Annabeth sighed.

"Yes, the first primordial. Everything emerged from it. I'm surprised humanity has survived with such a raw chunk of it hanging around. I wonder when it arrived," Annabeth pondered. All of a sudden, she stiffened. "What is that." She said, pointing a slightly shaky finger at a tree on the far side of the clearing. I squinted. The tree was black, but there was writing on it. We both moved closer, and realised it was Ancient Greek. "It says–" Annabeth was cut off by Hermione, who walked over to the tree jerkily, and turned around to face us. She opened her mouth, and smoke curled out of it. Her eyes glazed over, and I could have sworn I saw black flash across them. She then began to talk in a voice that was not hers

" _Death and light walk hand in hand,_

 _to follow the tunnel to see the dark banned_

 _Swear it with a golden aura_

 _The sacrifice of faun and flora_

 _Darkness and death shall give it all_

 _And land unprepared for the final fall"_

We all stood there, doing nothing. All of a sudden, Hermione twitched, and fell to the ground with a gasp. Harry and Ron rushed over to her, and she moaned as they helped her stand up.

"What the?" She mumbled. Before Harry could offer a reply, Nico called us.

"Hey guys! There is something over here that you should take a look at!" Ron didn't budge, but Harry got up to take a look. Annabeth told me that she would stay here, in case Hermione got worse, Leo staying to help as well. I followed reluctantly. I turned around a corner of huge oak trees, and–you guessed it!–something awful was waiting for me.

There was a lake, except instead of water, it was an inky pool of black so dark, If I stared straight at it, I wouldn't be sure if my eyes were closed or not. It really was oblivion. Harry gasped.

"Th-The P-Patronus" he stuttered. I didn't know what he was talking about, he might as well have been speaking in German. I stared at the lake, trying to use my powers to feel it out. See if it was still actual water. But I found nothing, and it was like there was nothing there. It was obviously not normal water. I shuddered, remembering the time I got trapped in a nymphaeum in Rome, the water so poisoned, I could most definitely drown like anyone else. This place was the same, but worse. "We have to tell Dumbledore" Harry breathed. he pulled his wand out of his pocket shakily, holding it up as if it would protect him. that dude needed a good old celestial bronze pen sword. Nico snorted,

"Do you think he'll be able to do anything? This is ancient greek power, your twigs won't do anything against it." He stalked right up to the lake, drawing his Stygian sword. "This isn't something from My dad's realm, or even tartarus. This is older than hell itself." Then, Nico's head snapped to the side, and when I followed his line of sight, I drew my sword, and Harry flinched, but didn't say anything.

Staring straight back at me, was a pair of eyes the colour of hellfire. They flashed in the setting sunlight, and narrowed slightly. The owner of the eyes stepped out of the line of trees surrounding the lake.

A stag examined us with quiet grace. Except it looked like an evil zombie vampire stag. It was made of this black charcoal stuff just like the trees, except shadows bent and flowed around it.

It took another step forward pausing, before setting it's eyes on Nico. then, out of the blue, it launched itself forward, running straight across the lake towards us at breakneck speed.

Swords flashed, and I found myself swinging at it. Which was quite stupid really, because now it turned to charge at me like a bull. I stumbled backward, and thudded on the ground. The stag was almost on top of me when I rolled to the side, grabbing my sword and scrambling for footing. Nico shouted, and I realised it was running for Harry, who stood there white-faced.

Nico jumped in front of Harry with his sword out, slicing clean through the stag. Shadows dispersed, and then reformed. I groaned, it was going to be this sort of fight then. I ran forwards with my swords also trying to slice through it. I swung for it's head, and this time the shadows dispersed a lot more. I kept swinging, trying in vain to stop it from reforming. I saw Annabeth pop up next to me at some point, her dagger out. Harry was shouting some spell, and light was flashing in the corner of my eyes. Then flame roared right next to me, singing the hair on the left side of my face.

The stag, half of its head now missing, bellowed, and thundered away. I stood there panting, trying to make sense of what happened. Harry was sitting down, and Annabeth whirled around.

"Well, isn't nature just wonderful?" Leo muttered, putting a small flame out with his foot.

"What the Hades what that?! Did you have something to do with it? Was that a Patronus?!" She yelled.

"And also, what is a Patronus?" Leo added.

"Well, sort of. It was my Patronus, but it was p-poisoned somehow, like the trees. I don't know anything else, I swear," He gasped. "Magic really didn't do anything." He murmured more to himself, staring incredulously at his wand.

"I think can. Do something against it I mean. But I need to research. We have to get back, before it gets too dark to see any dangers. In response, Leo's hand went alight, and he lead the way a little o excitedly back to the school.

"Hey man, I'm just happy to be alive, like always." Leo said, holding his hands up in surrender. His flame burned a little brighter as the sun dipped lower. After a few minutes of silence, he asked, "How come the flame got rid of it pretty well?"

"I think it's because flame is something from the age of the titans and the Gods, since it was more man-made and not as natural. So maybe that's why the chaos doesn't like it. But I doubt it will get rid of it forever." She informed us, from the back of the group. The wizards were silent, but Ron grunted every now and then, because Hermione was leaning on him. We continued onwards, again in silence partly because we were too scared to make much noise, and also because we were all a little shaken.

Every snap of a twig, rustle of leaves, and the flight of a bird had me jumping, and I kept thinking I heard the Ceuthonymus' evil whispers in every breeze that blew through this forest.

Thankfully, we weren't too far away, but there was still the matter of being locked out. I hoped that we would get in, otherwise we'd have to spend the night outside, right next to the creepy forest. I shuddered at the thought. Right in front of me, Leo marched ahead, with his flame in hand–Wait never mind, he set his head on fire instead–and it lit up the small track, which was scattered with an assortment of roots and rocks that wanted to trip you over. I almost fell over more than once.

I could see the tall turrets of Hogwarts peeking over the canopy, and relief flowed through me. They were still bathed in a pinkish light as the sun set, and they acted like a huge beacon.

It was a few more minutes before we reached the edge of the woods, and by then, we all started jogging for the school entrance. Except for Ron and Hermione, whom speed walked as fast as they could. Leo got to the door first, and turned around and said,

"Damn."

 _Leo POV_

I tried the door over and over again, but it didn't budge. I thumped on it, but no one answered. Which made sense really, because if you were in lockdown, you wouldn't open the door to anyone. I groaned. I didn't want to admit this to anyone, but I was actually really freaked out.

This was like a horror movie, where the spooky ghost does a series of haunts that lead up to the climax of the movie. I had a feeling that all of our encounters with the Ceuthimoose thing were not the worst that there was. Every small noise made me jump at the moment, and I kept thinking I saw the Ceuthonymus in people's shadows.

But what good did my fear do to anyone? We all have stuff to worry about, no point burdening them with my problems.

"We can go find Hagrid, if he isn't in his house, we can stay in there for the night."

I nodded, that sounded like a good plan, as long as we weren't stuck out here the whole night. Hagrid seemed like a pretty chill dude.

"Or…" Annabeth began, trailing off in thought.

"Or?" I asked. Annabeth did this kinda thing so often, one of us had to remind her to continue talking. She sighed.

"We could find the brooms and fly in." She said, we all gave her a look. "It would be a lot faster! But it's a stupid idea really. Just a suggestion." Her face went a little bit red. Everyone looked thoughtful, but It was Hermione that spoke up.

"Annabeth is right. I'll slow us down, and Hagrid's house too far away, and it really is getting dark. If we fly, it will be quicker, and we can go straight to the dorm rooms. The broom shed is just around the bend."

Everyone was silent. Not because it was a bad thought, but because Hermione actually _agreed_ with Annabeth!

"Ok," I said, "Let's do that, but we just need to hurry, it is really getting dark."

We all hurried for the broom shed, which was hopefully unlocked.

But of course, It was locked. But this time I could actually be helpful. I knelt down next to the padlock, pulling wire out of my toolbelt. I bent it, and stuck it in the lock. Then, I just wiggled until it popped open. I jumped up, nudging the door open with my foot.

I lit up my hand, just in case, and went inside. Brooms lined up in rushed rows cast strange shadows on the wooden walls.

"All clear." I called softly. The rest came inside, and we quickly grabbed a broom, and then ducked outside again.

"Um, Annabeth and I haven't actually had a lesson on these things yet." Nico pointed out. Harry looked Baffled for a second, but then jumped right to explaining how to use them. There wasn't time for a practice run, so we did our best.

When everyone was on their brooms, Harry, Ron, and Hermione kicked off, jumping into the air. They made it look so easy. When we tried, I spun upside down, and was hanging off it with my legs. Annabeth just fell off completely.

Finally, when we were ready to go, We slowly followed Harry up around the school to where the Gryffindor dorm rooms where. I wobbled a bit, and clenched the broom tightly as we climbed. It felt strange to be so high up with nothing but air around you. I didn't know how Jason managed it. We flew around part of the castle, and found where the windows to the Gryffindor dorm were.

We went to go tap on the window, but all I could see was swirling black.

 _Okay, I think I need to stop with the constant cliffhangers. It might just be me, but they're getting a bit annoying. I wonder if I should add a bit of fluff everynow and then... not hardcore fluff, but just a bit of romance between Percy and Annabeth. I'm not sure, I'll see how I go. If you want fluff or less cliffhangers, let me know in the reviews!_

Have a nice day!

-B


	10. Chapter 10

_Hello, welcome back to the story. Now, last chapter I was talking about adding fluff, and whether I should continue on with the cliffhangers, and I did promise I would add a bit of fluff every_ now _and then, but don't get mad at me if it is not in this chapter. That's only because I couldn't fit it in with all the swirling darkness and stuff! But I will add fluff later in the chapters, and I also decided that I'm not bored of cliffhangers! (Sorry if they drive you crazy)_

 _Anyway, I should stop talking... Hope you like the chapter!_

Chapter #10

Annabeth's POV

We were too late. The damage was done. I hovered on my broom at the back of the group, but before I could warn him not to, Percy broke the window. Black smoke came shooting out, and Percy was sent spinning.

"PERCY!" I shouted. Luckily, he did not fall to the floor, but he was left hanging upside down. While I tried to rush to him, Hermione got there first and helped him upright. I saw flashes of light in the corner of my eye. I turned, and I saw Harry and Ron chasing after the dispersing Ceuthonymus smoke, shouting words that sounded like latin, and waving their wands around. Nico was trying to summon shadows, but they were just sucked into the Ceuthonymus's shadows, making it throb. Then Leo–being the little kid he was–charged on his broom after the Ceuthonymus, blasting flames at it while screaming

"FEEL THE HEEEAAAAT!"

Poor Ron and Harry had to dive down to avoid the flames. But Leo seemed to do the job well, because the smoke fizzled away, tiny wisps of that floating into the atmosphere. But Hermione and Percy were flying towards the window, and Harry and Ron quickly joined them. I flew after them on my stupid stick, and climbed into the window, all too aware of the huge drop before me.

"So that's it right? I killed it! We can–" He stopped short.

All around me black smoke and dust clung to the walls. There were unconscious bodies (at least I hoped they were unconscious) covered in dust. It reminded me of the people in Pompeii trapped in volcanic ash. Paintings were shattered, and furniture was broken or torn. It was like an explosion, although the outer walls were not harmed.

Coughing at the smoke, I hurried down to the common room, but the situation wasn't much better. There was less dust, but more bodies. the entrance to the common room nothing but a smoking pile of dust.

Hermione pushed past me, letting out a sob, and rushed to the side on one girl who looked particularly bad.

I surveyed the room, Harry and Ron were already in action, and there were teachers arriving. They were helping kids to the infirmary, and the ones who couldn't be moved were being helped onto stretchers. I saw that my friends had went into full war camp mode, and I saw them helping move bits of debris out of the way of the nurses. I saw Percy help a small kid get to one of the bunkers that were now being used as hospital beds. Our eyes met from across the room, and Percy gave me a grim smile.

"Annabeth!" Nico called sharply. I whipped around, a bit startled. "You better take a look at this." I followed him into the boys dormitory, cutting of the squeaks of protest by some boys with a sharp glare. We walked over to Nico's bent bed frame, Nico pushed it to the side, revealing a perfectly untouched circle on the floor, the stone gleaming against the dust. But the thing that worried me was the potted plant in the middle of that circle.

I examined it, but I couldn't quite place where it was from. It was small, all black, and tiny little thorns covered the vine.

"That was Professor Sprout's plant." Nico whispered. I looked at him, but he just shrugged. "Don't you remember? I was supposed to do a report on it."

"Oh." I said, finally piecing things together. I reached out to touch the plant, but thought better of it. "Do you think that the Ceuthonymus was in that?" Nico asked.

"I don't know for sure, but if you were going to sneak an evil shadow into a heavily warded dorm room, that would be a clever way to conceal the Ceuthonymus. It would have had to be on a very small scale, otherwise the wards would have alerted someone. No one would have given it a second thought, with all these other strange and magical wizard plants. " I queried.

"You think _that_ was a small scale?!" Nico gestured to the wreckage around us. I only nodded. He knew just as well as I did that this being was very capable. Before I could say more, commotion in the common room interrupted me. Nico and I hurried down the stairs to see what it was all about.

Dumbledore was standing amid the wreckage, and the transfiguration teacher was standing next to him. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem. thank you students, appreciate all your cooperation and help. Now, I know that this is all quite a shock, but I assure you we are investigating the problem, and there is no need to panic. But, since the Gryffindor dorms are unusable, you will be split into the other houses until the damage has been cleared, and the problem solved." A few kids groaned, but Dumbledore continued. "Now, Classes will resume, but we ask you to not do anything rash, and stick to your schedule. In free time, you will not be able to roam, and after classes, go straight back to your dorms. Is this clear?" Mumbles and nods echoed around the broken room in response. Dumbledore excused himself, and vanished, but the other teachers remained to assign us to temporary houses.

Nico and I glanced at each other in worry. I saw Percy shove his way through the crowd to where we were standing.

"Guys, this is a disaster!" he said above the noise.

"I know, I know, but we just have to roll with it. We've dealt with worse remember?" I said, and it seemed to do the trick, because he shrugged.

"I'm just tired, and I don't want to have to deal with another major enemy again. Besides... I miss you." He said, giving me the biggest puppy eyes I've ever seen. I laughed and pushed him away, but he kissed me on the cheek before mumbling,

"I'm gonna find Leo. and then we can all think of a game plan."

I nodded absently. Come to think of it, Percy and I haven't really spent any quality time together since we got to Hogwarts. Everything had happened too fast. I turned to Nico.

"Percy's right, we are going to need a game plan. It seems that people are assigned at random, so we need to have a meeting point if we are split up, and everything goes wrong." Nico nodded in agreement.

"What about the entrance to the main hall?" He offered. I considered the advantages of that meeting point.

"That's probably won't work in an emergency situation. You see, the hallway splits into two, and both are not direct escape routes. However, if we find a spot in a more direct spot, it is important that we–"

"Are you two okay?" A teacher asks.

"Oh yep. We're fine." Nico replies. The teacher gives us a wierd look, because we are one of the few people who aren't covered in soot.

"Well anyway, your room assignments are Slytherin and Ravenclaw." She then leaves to talk to the kids standing nearby us.

"Gods dammit." I mutter, "your meeting spot will have to work for now. If you see Percy and Leo, tell them the plan." I move to the growing group of people going to Ravenclaw, and pat Nico on the shoulder.

 _Nico's POV_

After Annabeth left, I went and found Leo and Percy, who were both arguing with a teacher. Apparently, Leo was going to go to Hufflepuff, and Percy Slytherin, but Leo had other ideas. They were trying to convince the teacher to put Leo in Slytherin.

"Fine. go in Slytherin. It doesn't matter anyway." The grumpy old teacher huffed, before briskly turning away. Leo and Percy fist pumped, and I sighed.

"Slytherin huh?" I asked. Percy nodded.

"Yep! What about you?" He said.

"Slytherin" I confirmed. To be honest, I was kinda bummed that I was stuck with them, and I would rather be with Annabeth. Not because I liked her like that, but because she was the least annoying out of our group.

"What about Annabeth?" Percy asked peering over my shoulder to look for her.

"Ravenclaw."

"Seriously? Maybe I should talk to a teacher...?" He began, but I cut him off.

"No, don't worry about it, she's left already." I told him

"Without a goodbye?"

"I dunno man, but we can't think about it now. we have to have our heads on straight."

"Our heads maybe, but not _your_ head Neeks!" Leo said laughing, "Straight? hehe, get it? you know, caus' Nico is–"

"Shut up Leo." I told him.

"Okay." Leo said.

"Because we've been split up, Annabeth realised we needed to have a meeting place in a most likely case of an emergency. So, for now, we will meet at the entrance to the main hall, which can be barricaded. We may change it later, but it will have to do for now. Any questions?" I asked. Leo raised his hand. "Yes Leo?" I sighed.

"Okay, so I'm all cool with that meeting place, but isn't it a bit obvious? Shouldn't we take over a tower or something? Then Festus and I can be all POW POW POW!" Leo said, making finger guns.

"Like I said, it'll have to do for now, and then maybe we can find something better. Remember, we can't leave all the students alone." I said, wishing this conversation to be over.

"Right, because wizards and their sticks are useless." Percy muttered.

"Let's just get our stuff and go." I sighed.

We collected our things that weren't blown up, which consisted of our weapons, Leo's dragon, and miraculously, Percy's cookies. A lot of our supplies were broken, but apparently our 'partners' in the other houses would share with us until things could be replaced. We then made our way to the Slytherin House.

We entered with the group of other kids going to the Slytherin house. When I went in, it felt as if the whole mood had changed. Every person felt like someone that wanted to befriend you, only to exploit or betray you. Luckily, I knew my way around these sorts of geezers. Kids started pairing off with friends or acquaintances, so Leo, Percy and I were left standing there.

Then a kid with slicked back blonde hair approached us. His eyes were small and hard, and something bad flashed behind them.

"Hi, I believe we've met." He said. Leo Spread his arms wide.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy Right? Nice to see ya again, it's been awhile huh?" Leo's grin stretched from ear to ear, Except this grin was more like a cat playing with prey. Malfoy shrugged.

"Well, since you don't seem to be partnered up yet, care to join me and my mates?" Malfoy smiled sinisterly. I was about to turn him down, but Percy jumped in.

"We'd love to!" He then turned to me with a look that said, _I want to see where this goes._ I shrugged, because I didn't really care that much. Malfoy showed us to the boy's dorm. And while there were the usual bunks, mattresses were also covering the floor, so we had to hop around a lot to get to the other end. I tucked my stuff that I didn't mind people seeing just next to the mattress. But I did find a hole in the mattress where I could hide my ambrosia and nectar, and of course, my sword. After, Malfoy gave us a quick tour around the dorm, but it was mostly designed just like ours.

Surprisingly, nothing bad happened after the horrible Ceuthonymus incident. I was a bit worried about Malfoy though, because he seems like the ruthless type, and we don't want the truth of our identity and our weapons falling in his hands. But that aside, nothing bad happened that night, we just went to bed. Although, In the middle of the night, I thought I heard shuffling, but I assumed it was someone's pet.

 _Okay, I know this is a short chapter, but it's going to be rainy for a whole week so I will make up for the shortness in the next chapter. like I said, I'm not done with the cliffhangers, but I can't really call this a cliffhanger, but more of a warning, or foreshadowing. whatever you want to call it. Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, andI will bring fluff in the future, but it depends whether it fits in my future plot (which is getting really dark now that I think of it)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hi everyone, here is chapter 11! I was sort of rushed with this one because I am leaving for band camp in an hour and I just had to get this one out. It is short, and I apologise, but I can't promise the length of the next one, although hopefully it will be a bit longer._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoy!_

Annabeth's POV

When I had gone to the Ravenclaw group, I spotted Harry, but none of his friends seemed to be with him.

"Hi Harry."

"Hi Annabeth."

"So you were put in Ravenclaw too? What about Ron and Hermione? " I asked, although the answer was obvious, i just didn't know what else to say.

"Yeah." Was his reply.

"Look, I'm sorry about the whole Gryffindor attack. We should have connected the dots earlier on, and we should have been there, instead of chasing red herrings." I sighed.

"No Annabeth, it's okay, it wasn't your fault."

"No! It is not okay! It may not be my fault, but you call _that_ okay?! Now, I know that we may be very different, but we need to stop it. It somehow followed us here, so in a way, we brought this on your school. But apologies aside, we need to do something. Are you in?" I asked, staring him down. He nodded, just as fiercely.

"Yes, I'll help in whatever way. Besides, we may not have the right skill set on the battlefield, but trust me, I have gotten into plenty bad situations in this school. You are going to need someone who knows this school inside and out." He told me. I nodded, considering this alliance.

"Okay, so it's a deal then." I smiled grimly, looking him in the eye, "But keep this in mind Harry. I mean it when I say if you dare betray us, things will not end well for you." Harry gulped, but nodded. Looking ahead, I realised that the group had started to move to the Ravenclaw house.

Inside the dorms, the main layout was pretty much the same, except the boys and girls dorms sides were switched. I'd have to keep that in mind if I didn't want to walk into the boy's dorm. What I like about this place was that there were books everywhere. Charts decorated the walls, and the atmosphere reminded me of the Athena cabin. s The ghost who was leading the group shouted,

"Alright, you know the drill, girls to the girls dorm, and boys to the boys dorm. Find a partner to show you around."

Now, any smart teacher would know that asking teenagers to find their own partner is a very tough and awkward ordeal. But what the heck, because I said goodbye to Harry, and marched up the steps to the girl's dorm.

A bunch of other girls were joining friends, so I sort of just stood there. Then, from behind me, a voice said,

"Hey, do you have a partner yet?" I turned around to find a girl smiling at me. She had long dark brown hair, and light brown skin. "I'm Padma Patil. Aren't you the new transfers? From America right?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yep, that's me. I'm Annabeth Chase. And no, I don't have a partner."

"Oh, do you want to be with me?" I nodded, and so she continued, "I'll show you where you can dump your stuff." She led me around where extra mattresses where being put out to a bunk bed in a corner. "Gosh, I'm so sorry about what happened to your house. No one would tell me anything, but from what I could glean, it seemed pretty bad."

"Yes, it was not pretty. But it's being cleaned up. I don't think anyone died, but lots got very injured." Actually, I was pretty sure a few people died, but I didn't want to tell her that.

"What about you? You seem fine, if you don't mind me saying." Padma said, turning to look at me.

"I wasn't in the house when it happened."

"Oh." I shrugged again, and set about tucking my things away next to my mattress. Then, Padma showed gave me a quick tour, and I was noting the exits and escape points. Then we settled down, and got into a nice long chat about books.

Leo's POV

Is it just me, or is that Malfoy dude seriously creepy. I'd be more than happy to turn him into a strip of beef jerky with extra jerk. I made a mental note to keep an eye on him. The whole night, I was jumping at every sound. But it was around midnight when I heard rustling and shuffling. I shot up in bed, and I could see a very malfoy like shadow heading out the dorm. I groaned, (I would not get my beauty sleep tonight) and got up to follow him.

He slipped down a dark hall, and I almost groaned again. I had to speed walk to follow him, He was about to turn down an even smaller hall, but ran up to him, and grabbed his shoulder. I expected to see A huge scary face, but it was just malfoy. His eyes were glassy.

"Dude, what are you doing?" I asked. He looked at me like he couldn't quite hear what I was saying.

"The...The song. Isn't it beautiful? I can hear it's promises. Gold, fame, power. What does it promise you?" He said distantly. I listened for a second.

"Nope, can't hear anything."

"Excuse me, I need to go–"

"Can't let you do that buddy." I told him.

"No!" He shoved me harder than I expected, "I must get to the Labyrinth!" He screamed. So Annabeth was right about the Labyrinth afterall. But that was to be expected obviously. Malfoy was properly fighting now, pushing to get past me. I heated up my hands a bit, burning his shoulders. He screamed again, but continued to try and get past me.

If anyone knew me, they would know that I am _not_ the muscle guy on the team, so I was on the losing side of this battle. So, I did what I had to. Knock him out. He crumpled to the floor, and I began the grueling task of dragging him back to the dorms.

 _No One's POV (extra scene)_

 _From its perch on one of the beams holding up the room, The Ceuthonymus' shadows whipped around angrily. Below it in the center of the room, a dias was illuminated by a sliver of moonlight. A figure cloaked in a heavy black robe stood before a human, kneeling down and whimpering._

" _Demigods. They are getting in the way of our plans. They got the boy. We will have to choose someone out of the demigod's sight. Cast it to the Hufflepuff dorms, They are weak. " The cloaked figure hissed. It jerked its head at the prisoner, and two Laistrygonians emerged from the dark, hoisting up The shuddering prisoner. "You will cast the spell to the Hufflepuff students, and we will know if you try and send a signal for help. Don't make that mistake, or you would have brought untold harm on yourself and others."_

" _P-Please. Don't bring my students into this." The prisoner begged. The cloaked figure just shrugged, and the Laistrygonians took her away._

Leo's POV again

I was almost to the dorms when something crashed into me. I immediately lit a hand on fire, ready to shove it down the intruder's throat.

"Leo! It's me, Annabeth!" Annabeth cried.

"Oh." I set my hand down.

"What are you doing here?" Annabeth hissed.

"I should be asking you the same thing." I crossed my arms. Annabeth sighed,

"Fine. I was trying to get to the library. The one we aren't supposed to use." I raised a brow, "I needed more information. Your turn."

"I followed Malfoy." I said, gesturing at the unconscious body lying next to me.

"And you knocked him unconscious?" Annabeth asked. I shrugged

"He was trying to get to the Labyrinth. He was ranting about how he followed a song, and it was promising him stuff, like money and power and all that lot." Annabeth swore creatively.

"This is getting worse." she mumbled.

"Ya think?" I said. She growled, but then paused. I listened, and we heard a few footsteps, and then silence.

"I need to go." Annabeth whispered. Before I could say more, she disappeared. And I was left standing In a dark and empty hall in the middle of the night, with an unconscious kid. Great. I dragged him back to the dorms, having to rest every now and then.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" I halted, and turned to find the Slytherin painting frowning down at me.

"I, uh… left something important in one of the classes." I said. The painting frowned more. "And I found him lying unconscious when I walked back. He was unconscious when i found him. Someone else must have definitely knocked him out." I said.

"Well, things have been weird lately. Haven't they? But you should know it is against the rules to leave the dorms at night. That's automatic detention."

"Oh. I am so, so so sorry. I am a transfer student, and I've never been to a boarding school before. I'm from america." I told the painting.

"Oh, of course, I definitely understand." the painting looked at me pityingly. It let me inside, and called for a nurse to help Malfoy. After, I let out a breath.

I crawled back into my bed, and fell asleep.

"Dude. Wake up. We're gonna be late for breakfast." I opened an eye, and found Nico inches above me. I jumped.

"Jeez, don't scare me like that man!" I yelped. Nico frowned.

"You look awful. Didn't you sleep at all last night?" He asked.

"That's what happens when I don't get my Gods damn beauty sleep," I grumbled.

"What?"

"What?"

Nico shook his head, and left to go to the bathroom. When everyone was ready, (a lot of complaints from the others about me being slow) we finally left for the hall.

"You guys, we need to talk." Annabeth said, rushing up to us.

"You look tired Annabeth, did something happen last night?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow. Annabeth sighed.

"Come on."


End file.
